Tates seen with Jon Jones
Andrew and Tristan Tate were photographed with former champion Jon Jones at a Miami Dirty Boxing event, an image that quickly circulated and raised eyebrows in MMA circles. (x.com)
The photo landed awkwardly because Jon Jones was not just passing through a Miami fight card. Dirty Boxing Championship announced in March 2025 that the former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight and heavyweight champion had become a co-owner of the promotion, and DBX 6 was scheduled for Friday, April 10, 2026, at the James L. Knight Center in downtown Miami. (prnewswire.com) (miamiandbeaches.com) That meant the image was not a random backstage selfie. Jones was one of the faces attached to the event, and the Tate brothers were there around a promotion that has been trying to grow fast by mixing fight-sport names, internet attention, and a rule set built for short, violent exchanges. (mmajunkie.usatoday.com) (dirtyboxingchampionship.com) Dirty Boxing is not standard boxing and not mixed martial arts. Its own pitch is four-ounce or five-ounce gloves, an 18-foot ring, boxing-style exchanges in close range, elbows, and limited ground-and-pound, which is why it has marketed itself as a hybrid made for clips and knockouts. (dirtyboxingchampionship.com) (jlkc.com) Jones had already been booked as a meet-and-greet attraction for DBX 6 before the photo spread. A March 2 event release promoted Michael Garcia vs. Rob Perez for an interim heavyweight title and separately advertised a Jon Jones fan appearance in Miami. (prnewswire.com) The reason the picture drew a sharper reaction than an ordinary celebrity cameo is the Tate brothers’ legal and public profile. Reuters reported on April 6, 2026, that a Romanian court lifted preventive judicial control measures on Andrew and Tristan Tate while they still remained under criminal investigation on accusations including human trafficking. (thestar.com.my) So in one frame you had a still-active fight superstar, a promotion he partly owns, and two internet figures whose name recognition comes with years of allegations, court fights, and culture-war baggage. In combat sports, where sponsors, broadcasters, and athletic commissions all matter, that is enough to turn one event-side photo into a story of its own. (reuters.com) (mmajunkie.usatoday.com) Jones also carries his own long history of controversy, which is why the reaction was not limited to people surprised to see him near the Tates. Sports media covering the image described immediate backlash from fans, with the criticism aimed as much at Jones’s judgment as at the promotion’s appetite for attention. (sportskeeda.com) That is the real story behind the photo: Dirty Boxing is trying to become a new combat-sports brand, and new brands often borrow heat from famous names before they build their own. When one of those names is Jon Jones and two of the others are Andrew and Tristan Tate, the attention arrives instantly, but it does not arrive clean. (dirtyboxingchampionship.com) (prnewswire.com)
