Tai Tuivasa may not like Jon Jones as a person but that doesn't mean that he doesn't respect him as a fighter.
Fan favourite Tuivasa improved his winning streak to five fights after scoring a second round KO win against Derrick Lewis at UFC 271 in February.
He faces former interim UFC heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane in Paris on Saturday night.
The hard-hitting 6ft2in MMA fighter is known as 'Bam Bam' and foresees an inevitable clash with Jones in his future.
ALL THE INFO: UFC Paris: Date, Venue, Main Event and Everything You Need to Know
And while he may not like him very much, he begrudgingly admits that he's actually rather quite good.
During an appearance on The MMA Hour, he said: “He messaged me actually, which was pretty funny.
“I must have said I’ll fight him [in an interview] and he’s going, like, ‘Keep winning, you’ll get your wish’ or something.
Tai Tuivasa is unbeaten in five fights having not lost since 2019
“I don’t know if he was trying to scare me or turn me on, but it did kind of both.
“I’ve said it many times before and I stand by what I said, I think Jon Jones is the best fighter to ever fight. Just how he fights. How he fights, he is probably the best fighter to ever step foot in the cage.
“But is he a d***head? Yes, I think he’s a d***head. And will I fight him? Yes.
"Will he fight me? I think he would because he’s fought everyone and anyone.
"He’s one of the greatest to do it, but I’d love to fight him. Not for anything else, just for the same reason I like to fight all these people who have made names.
READ MORE: UFC Paris: Robert Whittaker refuses to rule out a permanent move to light heavyweight
“Win or lose, I’ll go in there and have a swack. If I dink him, I sink him. Dink him, I sink him.
"That’s fair dinkum, you know what I mean?”
Tuivasa, 29, hasn't set foot inside the Octagon since his UFC 271 bout with Lewis, which he won via second-round knockout.
UFC Fight Night 209, the first of its kind to be held in France, takes place at Accor Arena in Paris on September 3.
The card will be headlined by a men's heavyweight final eliminator between Gane and Tuivasa.