Ex-training partner shares wild Jon Jones sparring story offering glimpse into 'Bones' behind the camera: "I never trained again with him"

The UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones has fought who's who of MMA. His illustrious list of opponents includes an undefeated bare-knuckle boxing heavyweight champion with all first-round knockouts, Gustavo Trujillo.

The 'Cuban Assassin' is one of the pound-for-pound best in bare knuckle today and prepares to take on Richie Leak at BYB 34: Brawl in the Pines IV on Dec. 6.

This main event with Trujillo and Leak will see the BYB heavyweight champion clash with the BKB heavyweight champion, respectively, in a massive title unification bout. The winner will also be the Police Gazette Diamond heavyweight champion, which has a lineage of over a century and dates back to names like John L. Sullivan.

Speaking on Bare Knuckle Bowker, Trujillo discussed his massive fight on Friday night and delved into his training history with his friend Jon Jones. The reigning UFC heavyweight champ helped Trujillo for almost a year and Jones helped mentor him inside the confines of Jackson Wink MMA. Expressed through the assistance of an interpreter, Trujillo said:

"I have this story with Jon Jones. So I'm a greco roman wrestler and coming from Cuba, I was in the Cuban Olympic team. So, training with Jon Jones, he told me hey, I know that you're a greco roman wrestler, let's wrestle. So we start wrestling and I; for the first time in his training or his fighting things, I win to Jon Jones."

"So I win the fight with Jon Jones. So he was impressed, and he said ok, I'm going to wait for you next day for training and I didn't do it anymore. Because I knew that he was coming prepared for me. So I never trained again with him [laughs]."

Check out Gustavo Trujillo's sparring story with 'Bones' Jones [20:50] below

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What lies ahead for Jon Jones?

Jon Jones is the reigning UFC heavyweight champion and the former multi-time light heavyweight champion has plenty of options after his last fight.

The 37-year-old recently notched the first defense of his heavyweight reign against an all-time great in the weight class, Stipe Miocic. 'Bones' halted Miocic with a spinning back kick to the body and many are wondering what is next for the champion in the wake of UFC 309.

'Bones' himself has been campaigning for a fight against Alex Pereira. However, the UFC matchmakers don't exactly seem to be sinking their teeth into the idea of the former middleweight and current light heavyweight champion clashing with Jones in 2025.

The Rochester native has many wanting him to fight Tom Aspinall, although Jones has indicated it would take substantial money to use the lineal UFC champ's operative wording, to face the interim UFC champion next.

A Francis Ngannou matchup is thrown into the mixture after a recent interaction between the PFL champ and the UFC titleholder. The obvious roadblock here would be the UFC's aversion to cross-promotion, which makes this the least likely fight of the three hotly discussed next options for MMA's consensus GOAT.