UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones claims that his awkward encounter with fellow MMA fighter Georges St.-Pierre outside of a New York City nightclub was the result of a misunderstanding.

During an impromptu interview with TMZ in Washington, D.C., Jones dismissed the notion that his meeting with St.-Pierre was an “awkward moment.” He says they are friends and that they have partied together on multiple occasions.

“Listen, Georges is my boy,” Jones told TMZ. “That was TMZ doing what TMZ does best, starting up some controversy, some drama. What really happened was that I didn’t see him, so when TMZ was like, ‘yo, are you with Georges?’ I was trying to be like no, I’m not with that dude. When I turned around, that dude was Georges.”

“We used to party before I was the champ,” Jones added. “And we’re trying to keep it that way.”

Jones’ alleged awkward encounter with St.-Pierre occurred outside the Marquee nightclub after Sunday’s Super Bowl. A cameraman asked St.-Pierre if he was aware that Jones was waiting in line at the same nightclub.

Initially, Jones appeared to signal to TMZ’s cameraman that he didn’t want St.-Pierre to be aware of his presence. Eventually, the pair embraced and entered the nightclub together.

The awkward situation led some to believe that Jones had attempted to snub his fellow UFC fighter, but SB Nation’s MMA Mania blog pointed out the possibility that “Bones” simply didn’t want the crowd outside of the Super Bowl party to identify him, and that the reaction had nothing to do with St.-Pierre. Jones’ latest comments seem to corroborate that notion.