The UFC doesn’t have Jon Jones (26-1, 1 NC) in their plans anytime soon. The former light heavyweight champion and all time great has been in a public spat with the promotion about his pay.
Jones was seeking a bump in his pay to move up and fight the UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou (16-3). The fight with Jones and Ngannou is the biggest fight the promotion can make outside of a fight that features Conor McGregor.
Ngannou became the heavyweight champion at UFC 260 when he knocked out Stipe Miocic (20-4). For the months leading up to that event, it was understood that Jon Jones would be fighting the winner.
However, immediately after the fight was over, Jones started requesting a bump in his pay. While the numbers are not publicly known, it’s obvious that the gap between Jones and the UFC is wide.
White has been vocal in that Derrick Lewis (25-7, 1 NC) would likely get the next shot at Ngannou. However, with that fight not being finalized yet, there has been some outside hope that Jones would still get the shot.
UFC has moved on
Dana White spoke to TMZ Sports this week and he made it clear that the UFC has moved on from this situation with Jones. He also said that Jones will make the call on whether or not he wants to fight again.
“I have absolutely moved on. Listen, I put on fights every Saturday. We have a window on when we try to build some fights and make things happen. If the fights don’t happen within that window, we move on,” White said.
When asked about Jones’ UFC future, White said, “That’s up to Jon. I was saying that night (UFC 260), that he could absolutely fight again at 205. He said he wouldn’t fight Stipe…Listen, there’s nothing wrong with going out on top.”
With the UFC moving towards booking the rematch between Ngannou and Lewis, White had previously suggested Jones fight Stipe Miocic in a title eliminator. However, Jones said last week that he had no interest in fighting the former heavyweight champion.
