Jon Jones: It’s easy for other light heayweights to talk crap ‘when daddy ain’t home’

Sometimes Jon Jones' tweets can be as sharp as his elbows.

The UFC interim light heavyweight champion took aim at fellow light heavyweights Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson in a series of tweets Wednesday night. Jones said even though he is currently inactive while dealing with doping suspension, he remains "more relevant" than any other 205-pounder.

"Can't wait to get back and slap one of these light heavyweights, even on the sidelines I'm more relevant than anyone in that division," Jones tweeted.

Cormier, the light heavyweight champion, will defend the title against Johnson in the main event of UFC 206 on Dec. 10 in Toronto. The two men were on a media tour of Canada this week and spoke a bit about Jones, which might have prompted "Bones" to fire back.

"You boys know when we all retire you will just be known as one of my contenders, easy for y'all to talk that shit when daddy ain't home," Jones wrote.

Jones, still regarded as perhaps the best pound-for-pound fighter of all time, took particular umbrage with something Johnson said in an interview with Canadian outlet TSN.

"When people ask me about Jon, they ask me, ‘What's going on with that guy?'" Johnson said. "They don't ask me about his athletic ability anymore, and his greatness inside the cage. They talk about his problems outside the cage. Nobody is perfect. We've all had our problems outside the cage, but his are just amazing."

Jones referenced Johnson's history of domestic violence issues, including pleading no contest in 2009 to domestic abuse charges, in a tweet Wednesday night.

"And AJ you calling my out of the cage problems amazing is almost hysterical," Jones wrote. "Trying to shit on me doesn't make you look anymore like a saint."

Jones, 29, failed an out-of-competition drug test prior to UFC 200 in July and was pulled out of his fight with Cormier on the card just three days out of the event. Jones tested positive for the banned substances clomiphene and letrozol, which are anti-estrogen agents. He is facing a one-year suspension from USADA, the UFC's anti-doping partner, and will have arbitration Oct. 31. Jones' date in front of the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC), which also has jurisdiction in the case, will likely come in November.

Jones owns a unanimous decision win over Cormier in January 2015. He has never faced Johnson, but was supposed to in May 2015 before Jones was arrested on a felony hit-and-run charge. He was given a conditional discharge with 18 months probation in that case back in September 2015 and violated probation in April, but has not faced any jail time.