‘You can’t post this’ : UFC star Jon Jones slammed for sharing video of him killing wild boar during hunt

UFC superstar Jon Jones certainly won't be receiving any awards from PETA in the near future after he was slammed online for posting a video of him shooting a boar as part of a hunting trip.

Jones, the longtime former UFC light heavyweight champion, is currently on the sidelines as he packs on weight ahead of his move to the heavyweight division this year.

But before he trains his crosshairs on the likes of Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou, Jones has been taking on another kind of foe entirely in the animal kingdom. 

'Bones' has long been known as a hunting and firearms enthusiast but has come under fire after posting the video to Instagram showing him in a helicopter in pursuit of the animal - before he pulls the trigger, immediately stopping the boar in its tracks. Jones then fires a few more shots into the prone beast. 

"One shot, one kill, lots of bacon," Jones wrote to accompany the clip. "Was an honor hunting with medal of honor recipient Patrick Payne," he added before tagging a selection of fellow hunters.

Predictably, the video hasn't gone down well with legions of the UFC star's followers.

"That's not hunting, that's pay to win," said one fan, suggesting that Jones' hunting trip was little more than an exercise of shooting fish in a barrel. 

"You can't post this," wrote another, while another chimed in to add "shooting an animal from a helicopter is weak. That's not hunting." 

Jones, of course, has been no stranger to controversy throughout his career. The record-holder for the youngest champion in UFC history (he was 23 when he captured 205lbs gold from Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua in 2011) has been embroiled in several scandals in recent years, ranging from drug test failures to an arrest for a hit and run incident in 2015. 

He relinquished the UFC's light heavyweight championship last year soon after a close decision win against Dominick Reyes to pursue a world title in a second weight category - an achievement which would place him in rarified territory on the UFC's very short list of two-division champs. 

Jones, who revealed on social media recently that he now weighs in the region of 250lbs, is expected to debut in his new frame in the coming months and could be ideally positioned to challenge the winner of the mooted March matchup between champion Miocic and the concussive Cameroonian Ngannou. 

As ever though, Jones' outside-of-the-cage antics look set to outshine his undoubted talents inside of it, at least judging by the reaction to his most recent social media offering.