“I think I can beat him, for real. A year of training, I need ground defense.” It was back in 2023 when Indiana Pacers star James Johnson confidently made this statement about UFC legend Jon Jones. 9 months ago, he doubled down on those words by saying, “I truly, truly believe that. I’m not just talking to rap.” Johnson has experience in fighting, having started Karate at the age of 4 and going on to win seven world karate titles, nine national crowns, and a 20-0 record as a kickboxer by the time he was 18. Despite that, challenging someone like Jon Jones is a big thing. With 3 months left in training, if his 2024 remarks reset the clock, Johnson still has time. However, did he decide to get in the ring early on by calling out Jon Jones again?

An X account by James Johnson’s name and profile picture recently put out a tweet with a picture of his remarks from last year. ‘James Johnson’ also added a caption to the post, which read “Jon we still on?”

Unfortunately, those who were excited that this tweet indicates an upcoming fight between Johnson and Jones will have to hold their horses. After all, it is clear that the ‘James Johnson’ account, which posted this message, is fake. James Johnson does not have an account on X. At least, not anymore.

Another account claiming to be ‘The Official Twitter of James Johnson’ (@IamJJ16) has over 24,100 followers. However, even that has been proven fake, thanks to a tweet from back in 2015 in which it had tagged the actual account of the player, which does not exist anymore.

The fact that the account, which posted the message, has only 1,512 Followers should have been a dead giveaway in itself. On top of that, if Johnson wanted to convey the message to Jon Jones, he should have tagged his official account, too. After all, the 37-year-old Heavyweight fighter has an official X account, as evident from his 3 million followers!

With the NBA Finals currently in full swing, the one thing that Johnson wouldn’t be doing is calling out a UFC legend over remarks HE made last year. Then again, the Pacers star had some time on his hands. By time, we mean 1 extra minute. After all, Johnson was ejected from Game 6 against the Oklahoma City Thunder with just 57 seconds remaining. The decision was made after Johnson hit his forearm on the upper body of Thunder’s Dillon Jones.

Therefore, sending a message to Jon Jones minutes after getting ejected for an ‘MMA-type’ action seems appropriate. Unfortunately, the same was too good to be true.

To be honest, it seems that James Johnson might wish everyone would forget about him challenging Jones. After all, judging from how the MMA fighter reacted to Johnson’s remarks, he is pretty confident about his chances.

How did Jon Jones react to James Johnson’s initial remarks?

Jon Jones didn’t take the Pacers forward’s remarks from last year lying down. As highlighted by ‘Bloody Elbow’, the fighter was in the middle of preparing for his highly anticipated heavyweight title fight, in the UFC 309 main event, against Stipe Miočić. Despite that, he took the time out to respond to Johnson as briefly as possible.

Johnson’s remarks were highlighted by the official Instagram accounts of ‘SportsCenter’ and ‘NBA on ESPN’. The fighter took to the comments section and wrote, “I didn’t realize until now, that basketball players got CTE as well, this man sounds crazy.” The answer was brief, but the sting was good. To add salt to the wound, former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya also took to the comments section. He wrote “I see red bro!” in what was reported to be a comical response to Johnson’s claim.

Back in 2023, the MMA community was having a good laugh at Johnson’s expense. Amongst them was also UFC legend Michael Bisping, who claimed that he couldn’t find any evidence that proved Johnson had fighting experience. Additionally, he roasted the basketball player’s remarks by saying, “That’s like me saying, ‘Listen, give me a year, I will learn how to play basketball even though I’ve only got one eye and no depth perception whatsoever. I’ve got the feet, I’ve got the skills, I’ve got the cardio, I’ve got the will to win. It’s nonsense, it’s stupid, okay.”

Jon Jones has the backing of several legends from the UFC community. Therefore, if James Johnson is serious about the fight, then he better get some moral support on his side, too. After all, this fight will be a serious one, and not like the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson boxing match.