Social-media photo-shopped exchanges (March 2016)

On March 1–2, 2016, Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier engaged in a documented Instagram exchange that used photo manipulation to mock one another. Media outlets captured screenshots after the posts circulated: Jones posted a doctored image that targeted Cormier, and Cormier posted a response that he later deleted; MMA Fighting reported the back-and-forth and archived available images for reporting purposes [5]. The incident occurred between their two title fights and followed renewed promotional activity surrounding a planned rematch. The exchange was not a formal press statement but a public social-media interaction visible to fans and the press. Immediate reactions framed the episode as escalation of existing rivalry beyond in-cage competition: outlets reported the deleted post and the mocking visuals as evidence the fighters were intensifying personal taunting on social platforms [5]. Names involved: Jon Jones (posted mock image), Daniel Cormier (posted and deleted a response), and media (MMA Fighting) that captured and reported the exchange [5]. The episode is an example of how social media became a sustained arena for the dispute, distinct from sanctioned fight results.

The March 2016 Instagram exchange matters because it shifted part of the rivalry into social-media performance: instead of only sporting outcomes, the fighters used public posts to influence fan perception and provoke each other. The documented deletion by Cormier and the media-captured screenshots provide concrete evidence of public taunting, which later amplified the significance of in-cage results and anti-doping controversies between them [5].

The Instagram exchange did not produce disciplinary action but contributed to a pattern of public provocations between the two fighters. The social-media escalation preceded Jones being removed from UFC 200 after an anti-doping flag in July 2016, and foreshadowed continued online taunts that accompanied promotional buildup to the UFC 214 rematch in 2017 [5][4]. The March posts remain a cited example of their off-cage antagonism in media retrospectives.