VIDEO | Watch Jon Jones wrestle a tiger

https://www.instagram.com/p/Blt22bYhvQw

By this point, we’ve all seen that video of reigning UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov wrestling a bear. But have you seen the video of former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones wrestling a tiger?

Jones shared this video to his official Instagram page late on Thursday night. The post also includes Jones’ encounters with some other powerful felines — a lion and an ocelot, from the looks of it.

Granted, this is a young tiger Jones is wrestling with. Not a man eater by any means — not yet, at least. As MMAMania points out, however, Jones deserves some bonus points for wrestling this jungle cat while it is unmuzzled. Nurmagomedov’s bear, to remind, did have a muzzle on.

Jon Jones has not fought since July of 2017, when he knocked out his arch rival Daniel Cormier to capture the UFC light heavyweight belt. Regrettably, it was then learned that Jones had failed a pre-fight drug test, which meant his win was overturned and the title was returned to Cormier.

At present, Jon Jones is awaiting sentencing for this latest failed drug test. His manager Malki Kawa seems optimistic that the United States Anti-Doping Agency should have that sentencing ready quite soon — perhaps even by the end of this month.

“I’m very confident we will have a decision on this thing by the end of this month,” Kawa said on a recent episode of Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. “They’re pushing hard. I know everyone involved is working hard to come to a resolution. I know that the UFC is anxiously waiting and we’re dealing with USADA on a daily basis. They’ve been really good with us as far as really investigating this thing and looking at it from a lot of different angles and stuff.”

“I’m hoping he gets cleared in the next month or so and that the opportunity to fight presents itself. If it’s next year, early next year or whatever it is, I’m confident.”

Who do you want to see Jon Jones fight in his return to the cage? Clearly, a tiger isn’t much of a challenge, so it might be a struggle to find him a worthy adversary.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/27/2018.