UFC PRESIDENT WEIGHS IN

Exclusive: Dana White explains his beef with Jon "Bones" Jones

Exclusive: Dana White explains his beef with Jon "Bones" Jones
Photo by Getty Images.

The last time we saw Jon "Bones" Jones fight was right here in Houston on February 8th at UFC 247 inside the Toyota Center. Jones, 32, defeated Dominick Reyes to successfully defend his light heavyweight title.

In an interview on The Jake Asman Show on Gow Media's SB Nation Radio, UFC President Dana White said that both he and Jones are at odds again. This time they are at odds over money. Jones wants to move to the heavyweight division and face knockout artist Francis Ngannou in what would be considered a mega fight. According to White, Jones wanted an "absurd" amount of money, reportedly comparable to what former heavyweight boxing champion Deontay Wilder received for his recent rematch against Tyson Fury ($30 million).




"This isn't the first time that Jones and I have battled and it won't be the last," White said. "I have nothing but respect for Jon Jones. I've been saying the guy is the GOAT. There's all this debate out there over who the GOAT is. There is no debate. Jon Jones has been doing this forever, and despite all the things he's done outside of the octagon, the guy has never lost a fight. Never lost a fight. And he's fought the 'Who's Who' of the sport. We've had disagreements in the past, but we will figure this out."

Despite White claiming that Jones is the GOAT, White says the UFC can not pay Jones what he wants to move up to the heavyweight division to fight someone in Ngannou that isn't a champion. White mentioned that with the pandemic impacting the country, Jones couldn't be picking a worse time to ask for more money.

"He's asking for an insane amount of money to move up to fight a guy that isn't even a champion at heavyweight," White said. "Listen, I'm not discrediting Francis Ngannou but what he is asking for doesn't make sense."

While Jones' greatness in the sport is well documented, White said he often wonders how much more Jones could have accomplished had he never had so many legal and personal issues away from the octagon.

"Jon Jones could have been the LeBron James of this sport," White said. "When I say that, that's the utmost compliment I could give somebody. The crazy thing is when you look at how good Jones is – and he is the GOAT – the crazier part is you look at what could have been."

You can listen to The Jake Asman Show weekdays from 8AM-10AM Central on SB Nation Radio.

You can listen to the full interview with Dana White below.


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