Dana White Wants To See Jon Jones Fight Again, But ‘That’s Up To Him’

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, has been leading a verbal battle with the UFC president Dana White on social media regarding his pay, in recent months. To date, ‘Bones’ is sticking to his guns and insists he will not step inside the Octagon until he’s paid what he thinks he’s worth.

Many have interpreted that statement as if Jones declared his retirement, like the former UFC two-division champion Henry Cejudo and superstar Conor McGregor have done recently. However, speaking to TMZ Sports, Dana clearly dismissed that assumption.

“Jon Jones didn’t retire, we know where Jon Jones is at,” he said. “Henry Cejudo and Conor McGregor are retired. I think everybody is doubting Conor because he did it before, but there was no issues about the money, he wasn’t trying to get more money or do any of this type of stuff, he’s retired.”

Dana then reiterated his well-known opinion about fighters who lose passion for the sport of MMA, which might have been the case with Cejudo and McGregor.

“Well, it’s the same thing with Henry Cejudo. Henry Cejudo was working his way up the ranks wanted to achieve all these things, he did it. He made a bunch of money. And the guy has been competing since he was a kid.

“And this is a sport that you need to be all in, like you said, you have to be obsessed about it. And once that goes away, or you start to not feel it, you got to walk away. It’s not a sport you can stay in and do half-assed.”

When asked about the situation with Jones, Dana explained why he wouldn’t be surprised by anything the 32-year-old might do.

“Listen, at the end of the day Jon Jones has enough money to retire,” he said. “He can retire, so you know, the whole Jon Jones thing has been a roller coaster ride for many, many years, so nothing surprises me with Jon Jones.”

Although the public discussion between the two has appeared heated at times, for Dana it’s nothing personal. According to him, it’s not even business, but rather the attitude of the champion.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s not even business. Listen, my lawyer offered to have Jon Jones come out and walk Jon Jones through the numbers and Jon Jones was like ‘I don’t give a f*** what the numbers are, I don’t care, this is what I want and that’s that.’”

Dana would obviously like to see Jones back inside the Octagon, but not at all stakes.

“I hope so, but that’s up to him. You know, if he decides to never fight again that’s up to him.”

In another interview on ESPN (transcript by Bloody Elbow), Dana teased the public about how much Jones actually gets paid, and compared him with some of the biggest UFC stars.

“I’ve made it very clear,” he said. “Ask Jon Jones what he’s made. Ask Jon Jones how much he’s getting paid. See what he tells you,” White said. “And he won’t tell you what he’s getting paid because I think the narrative changes a lot when you find out what Jon Jones makes. But Jon Jones feels he’s underpaid.

“I’ve said it many times, I think Jon Jones is the GOAT. I think he’s the greatest in the sport within the last however many years, and he just doesn’t make the money that a Conor and a Khabib make. And he doesn’t like that.”

Do you think Jon Jones will get what he wants, or Dana White will have the final word?

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