Jon Jones may not be competing in the Octagon right now, but he finds himself in the spotlight after receiving an unexpected callout at a bare-knuckle tournament. The former UFC champion was present at IBA Bare Knuckle 4 when he entered the ring after the main event to express his thoughts.

Vagab Vagabov faced Yoel Romero in a competitive five-round bout. It was a close fight, but Vagabov did enough to win the decision, handing ‘Soldier of God’ his first loss in bare-knuckle fighting. Reacting to the fight, ‘Bones’ admitted that the fight was razor-thin and stated that the crowd appeared to favor Romero, making it difficult to score.

“The fight really could have gone either way,” he said. “I felt like the fans thought that you won, but I’m glad I’m not a judge tonight.”

But what followed drew even more attention. Fresh off his victory over Yoel Romero, the Russian fighter used the opportunity to call out Jon Jones, suggesting they throw hands in a bare-knuckle fight.

“Listen, Jon Jones, I heard he’s going to fight bare-knuckle,” he said. “If this is true, then let’s throw hands.”

Given Jon Jones’ presence as an ambassador for the promotion, as well as continuous speculation about his future, the challenge didn’t come out of nowhere. ‘Bones,’ however, wasn’t biting.

Smiling as he looked at both fighters, he admitted that while the idea of fighting bare-knuckle sounded appealing, he wasn’t interested in facing any of them.

“I would love to fight bare-knuckle,” he said. “But not these two animals. No, no, no, no. I’m good.”

It is worth noting that Jon Jones remains tied up in contract issues with the UFC, which limit his ability to compete elsewhere. Until that situation is sorted, appearances like these may be the closest fans get to seeing him in combat sports action—even if offers continue to come his way.

But who exactly is this Vagab Vagabov, and did the callout really come out of nowhere? Well, not exactly. The Russian fighter isn’t a random name; in fact, he claims he once choked out Jon Jones in a previous training session.

Jon Jones disputes Vagab Vagabov’s big claim

The fact that the callout didn’t come out of nowhere adds to its intrigue. Jon Jones had already been questioned about Vagab Vagabov earlier in fight week, specifically about a bold claim that the Russian once got the better of him in training.

Jones, however, wasn’t buying it. When told Vagabov claimed to have choked him out during practice, the former UFC champion shrugged it off right away. He made it clear that he didn’t recognize the story at all and was confident enough in his memory—and his training environment—to disregard the claim completely.

For him, it wasn’t just questionable; it sounded absolutely absurd.

“Yeah, right! Now I know he’s lying,” Jones told Red Corner MMA. “I know my teammates.”

However, things got awkward when Vagab Vagabov later shared photos of them practicing together, proving at least some shared history. ‘Bones’ admitted that he didn’t recognize him at first because of how different he looked, but even then, he remained firm on his main point.

Training memories can get exaggerated with time, and ‘Bones’ believes this was one of those instances. Whether it was fun hype or genuine belief, the story clearly didn’t match on both sides—and now it’s only added more intrigue to an already strange interaction.