Jon Jones might be walking away from the title but he’s conducting himself like a champ.
Jones and Chuck Liddell used their platforms as the current (for the time being) and former light-heavyweight champions of the UFC to help keep protests peaceful. Both men did their best to make sure no more damage was done as a result of the protests that were sparked by the murder of George Floyd. Jones was seen out in Albuquerque, New Mexico removing spray cans from protestors to try to stop any property defacement and Liddell was out addressing crowds to protest peacefully.
A lot was made over the weekend of Jones’ back and forth with UFC President Dana White, but there things going on bigger in the world right now and Jones made an effort to do what he in Albuquerque.
“Is this <expletive> even about George Floyd anymore?” Jones asked in an Instagram video showing him taking the spray cans from protesters. Jones added in his post, “As a young black man trust me I’m frustrated as well but this is not the way, we are starting to make a bad situation worse.” He urged that the older, wiser generation call the younger ones back home if that is how they choose to protest.
In Huntington Beach, California Liddell was trying to calm people down, urging them to protest peacefully. “We all know what happened was wrong. Everyone I know thinks it was wrong. It’s hard to watch. But this does not help,” Liddell told ABC7 and added, “Destroying cities, destroying people, hurting people does not do any good for anybody.”
“Protest all you want, but just do it peacefully.”
Former UFC Light heavyweight champion
Chuck Liddell Oddly enough, before Jones was seen protecting Albuquerque from vandalism, White had commented that Jones had done a good enough job tarnishing his own legacy. That may be true but people change, and regardless of the past, Jones can chalk up his actions in Albuquerque right next to stopping the robbery in Newark when he first won the UFC light heavyweight title back in 2011.
