Sonnen to Jones: ‘Just go with it, just be a scumbag’

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Chael Sonnen has a few things to say about former rival Jon Jones.

A few days after Jon Jones’ DWI arrest in late March, Chael Sonnen came to his defense. But these days, the “West Linn Gangster” is going the opposite direction.

“I think Jon Jones since his latest arrest, I mean, the mask is off,” Sonnen told Submission Radio. “The world’s known he’s a scumbag for a while, but now that he’s finally in touch with just what a dirty guy he is and now he’s putting out interviews, he’s steering into it.”

Sonnen particularly picked on Jones’ arrest video, which showed a more vulnerable, helpless side of the reigning UFC light heavyweight champion. “Bones,” he feels, isn’t being true to himself during those moments. He also believes that from a marketing perspective, Jones should stop trying to pretend to be someone he’s not.

“Look, from a liveability and civility standpoint, okay, go ahead and question Jon Jones’ character,” he explained. “I’m speaking about from a marketing and promotional standpoint, he’s doing everything right. The gig is up, everybody knows.

“You were on TMZ in handcuffs crying about ‘I want to go home and be with my kids’. Dude, it’s two in the morning and you’re firing guns while shooting and running donuts in a parking lot drunk on tequila. Your time to be with your… are your kids even still up, you bum?

“The fact that he would be that level of a scumbag, just go with it, just be a scumbag,” he added.

As for Jones’ hypothetical yet already hyped up fight against Israel Adesanya, Sonnen has already made his pick.

“Oh, forget it, Adesanya will whip his ass,” he said.

“Do you think Thiago Santos beats Adesanya? Or do you think that Dominick Reyes beats Adesanya? I mean, these were really close matches for Jon Jones. I thought he lost both of them. On the 10-9 must system, I thought he lost to Santos too. I’m not bullish on that. I’m not even bullish on the Reyes one. Those were just my opinions. I think that ship has sailed.

“I think Jon’s tough, I don’t think he’s the greatest of all time. I think that’s Georges St-Pierre. But I do think that Jon Jones would have an argument to the toughest of all time,” Sonnen continued. “To watch his grit, to watch Jon Jones seeing everything, slip away, and he finds a way to get victory anyway, he finds a way to push through, Jon gets a lot of credit with me.

“I just think when you’re comparing him to Adesanya, Adesanya’s one. Jones is in a good spot, but he’s still number one.”

Light heavyweight Johnny Walker also chimed in on the issue, saying it would benefit the entire division if the UFC stripped Jones of the title.