New Zealand's UFC pioneer Dan Hooker scored a social media knockout victory over an Octagon legend on Sunday after a heated verbal stoush between the two.
'The Hangman' engaged in a Twitter war with former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones over three days from Christmas Eve (NZ time) to Boxing Day.
On Friday, Hooker came to the defence of former UFC title challenger and longtime rival of Jones, Chael Sonnen, who was reportedly charged with battery and assault last week after defending his wife in a hotel melee in Las Vegas.
Jones was quick to mock Sonnen for his actions after 'The American Gangster' had unloaded several verbal barrages at 'Bones' for his out-of-cage demons over the past decade.
Jones has been arrested four times since 2012, most recently over domestic assault claims, although his wife later dropped the charges.
In reply to Jones' Twitter jab at Sonnen, Hooker held back no punches against the controversial but talented fighter.
"Imagine beating up five people and not one of them is your wife (JJones RN)," Hooker wrote on Twitter.
The 31-year-old Aucklander is a long-time training partner of UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, with both Kiwis fighting out of the City Kickboxing Gym in Eden Terrace.
Adesanya is another rival of Jones, and although the two have never shared the cage together, the trash talk has reached intense levels at times.
Jones, triggered by Hooker's barb, accused the lightweight contender of failing to live up to the level and expectations of Adesanya, and says he "drops the ball" in big fights.
"Bro, your career is simply not panning out, that's my response lol," Jones wrote on Twitter, referencing Hooker's recent losses in marquee fights against Dustin Poirier, Islam Makhachev and Michael Chandler.
"Every opportunity you've had to make a name for yourself and be closer to your boy Izzy, you dropped the ball. You can't achieve greatness, so you hop online and attack someone who has. "Sounds about right."
But Hooker fired the loudest shot last, again referencing Jones' sketchy past.
"I was triggered by your disingenuous attempt to bring attention to Chael's situation. He was arrested for defending his wife, you were arrested for assaulting yours.
"Life hack: if you don't beat up your wife, family events will be more enjoyable. Merry Xmas bitch."
Jones has had a hall of fame career inside the cage, becoming the youngest UFC champion in the modern era when he claimed the light heavyweight title from Mauricio Rua in 2011.
The 34-year-old defended his title 13 times over a nine-year run as champion, with his only career loss coming in 2009 via a disputed disqualification. His career record sits at an impressive 28-1-1 and he is considered by most pundits to be the greatest fighter in UFC history.
But Jones hasn't fought since February 2020 due to a pending change in weight class to heavyweight and further issues with the law.
The New York native was also removed from the historic UFC 200 card, in July 2014, 48 hours before the main event against Daniel Cormier because he failed a pre-fight drugs test and was subsequently suspended for a year.
