Combat and politics are often described as oil and water—two worlds that shouldn’t mix. Yet, time and again, they find a way to collide. The latest example comes from New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who once again stirred up social media. But this time, the buzz quickly turned into mockery, as none other than Jon Jones’ grappling coach, Gordon Ryan, stepped in to ridicule him. So, what exactly went down?

Mamdani, known for his carefully curated social media presence, struggled to do even a single unassisted bench press during the annual Men’s Day open streets event in Brooklyn on Saturday. This was seemingly an attempt to impress the crowd gathered for the event, which was captured on video and has since gone viral over social media. In the video, the Democratic Party nominee is seen trying to lift a bar loaded with a reported 135 pounds of weight.

He did manage to do a couple of reps, but it needed an assist from a muscular man, celebrating the Men’s Day event, who was from the organization “500 Men Making a Difference.” Regardless, after giving up, Mamdani stood up and gave all the credit to his smiling spotter. This attracted Gordon Ryan’s attention, who shared the video with the caption, “NYC Mayor candidate Zohran Mamdani in failed PR stunt can’t even bench press 135 pounds.”

Gordon Ryan trained with Jon Jones in 2023 and 2024, ahead of Jones’ canceled fight and eventual fights against Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 and UFC 309, respectively. Regardless, Ryan wasn’t the only one to mock Mamdani after the mishap. Mayor Eric Adams and independent candidate for mayor, Andrew Cuomo, also took jabs at the Democratic Party nominee on social media since the video went viral and attracted attention from millions.

Adams and Cuomo join Jon Jones’ trainer

Eric Adams didn’t let the opportunity to mock Mamdani slip away, as he showed his own prowess in bench press. He shared a video on X from the same spot and with the same spotter, easily performing multiple reps without any assistance from the spotter. “64 vs 33. A lifetime of hard work vs. a silver spoon. The results speak for themselves,” Adams captioned the post. 

“The weight of the job is too heavy for ‘Mamscrawny.’ The only thing he can lift is your taxes,” Adams added. Meanwhile, Andrew Cuomo didn’t stay behind, as he came out with his own roast of Mamdani. “It’s easy to talk, it’s hard to carry the burden,” Cuomo tweeted. “This guy can’t bench his own body weight, let alone carry the weight of leading the most important city in the world.”

It seems Zohran Mamdani’s rivals expect him to hit the gym as often as he hits the campaign trail. And while running a city and lifting weights are hardly the same thing, Mamdani clearly lost this round of the competition. What’s your take on the video—embarrassing slip or just harmless fun?