Jon Jones explains his dislike of slaps Silva delivered to Vera at UFC 125
“It kind of bugged me, only because we all fight, and just losing alone is humiliating enough,” Jones said. “It’s…
“It kind of bugged me, only because we all fight, and just losing alone is humiliating enough,” Jones said. “It’s embarrassing. If someone ever did that to me, where they would beat me like that and then drum on my back, I would be humiliated. Just absolutely humiliated.”
Such are the peculiarities of mixed martial arts. Smashing Vera’s nose is to be expected. It’s one of the risks you take when you step in the cage, and everyone realizes it. But to be essentially mocked on live TV, that’s something most fighters assume they won’t have to deal with.
As Jones explained it, it wasn’t just Vera who Silva was insulting when he alternated between drumming on Vera’s back and slapping his ear in the third round of their bout.
“Think about all the people who watched those fights. All his fans, all the members at his school, all the kids that look up to him. Man, it just kind of rubbed me the wrong way. It’s not something I would ever want done to me and it’s not something I would ever do to someone else.”