Dana White says Jon Jones controls his own future
According to UFC president Dana White, the future of Jon Jones is completely in the hands of the current light heavyweight champion.
White told The Canadian Press on Monday that Jones (25-1) is in a position where he can walk away from fighting if he wanted to.
“Jon Jones is one of the greatest to ever do it,” White told The Canadian Press. “The decision he wants to make regarding his career is up to him. The reality is that he’s made enough money from fighting that he’s now in the position to retire and never work again in his life.”
Both Jones and White have been going back-and-forth while publicly airing out their problems in regards to recent fight negotiations. Jones would like a pay increase to move up to heavyweight for a super fight with Francis Ngannou and White referred to the amount of money Jones was asking for as “absurd.”
Jones would call out White on Twitter by asking him to release their text conversations. Then at the UFC on ESPN 9 post-fight press conference, White stood by his claim of Jones wanting approximately $30 million for the fight.
Following White’s comments in the post-fight press conference, Jones asked to be released from the UFC.
The last time Jones fought was at UFC 247 in February, in which he defended his light heavyweight throne by earning a split decision win over Dominick Reyes. Jones has said that of he were to vacant his title, he would like Reyes and Jan Blachowicz to fight for his title.
