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Throwback: Lewis Hamilton Once Slid Into a UFC Champion's DMs to Call Him a 'Coward'

Nikhil Chauhan, founder of GridnTrack

By Nikhil Chauhan

— Published on
Fact-checked byAbhishek Dogra
Lewis Hamilton and Jon Jones
Credits:AI-Generated Image

In a feud you probably didn't see coming, mixed martial artist and former UFC Champion and 7x Formula 1 Champion Lewis Hamilton don't really get along that well. The story is half a decade old but continues to pop up on social media time and again. That's not surprising, considering both athletes are at the pinnacle of their careers and are widely considered the GOATs in their respective sports. So what really transpired that prompted Lewis Hamilton to slide into Jon Jones' DM to call him a coward? The story is from 2021 when Jones posted a video of his 'hunting' session where he can be seen shooting a pig from a helicopter. As the clip went viral, it quickly grabbed the attention of Lewis Hamilton. The F1 driver is a longtime animal advocate and did not like Jon Jones glorifying hunting an animal.

Jon Jones revealed Lewis Hamilton's Instagram DM

"I went hunting years ago with a bunch of Army Rangers, and we ended up hunting pigs from a helicopter using AR-15s," ↗︎Jones shared. “I was so proud of myself because I killed one of the pigs from the helicopter, and my pig was donated to an underprivileged family in the community."

Hamilton did not stop here. He went on to unfollow and later block Jon Jones from Instagram.

“He was saying like only a coward could shoot an animal from a helicopter, so give the animal a chance to fight you back at least,” Jones continued, “He unfollowed me, and he blocked me, and it sucked because I was his fan. I was a fan of him, but he was very disappointed in me for shooting.”

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About the Author

Nikhil Chauhan, founder of GridnTrack

Nikhil Chauhan

Nikhil Chauhan is the founder of GridnTrack. A lifelong Formula 1 fan, he built the platform to give the paddock's followers a cleaner, faster home for race results, driver stats, and the stories behind every grid. When he isn't shaping GridnTrack, he's tracking the championship battle lap by lap and digging into the data that decides it.

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