Jon Jones Explains Why He Wants To Leave The UFC
Jon Jones is willing to stand his ground in regards to his ongoing battle over fighter pay, even if it means potentially being released by the UFC in the future.
It’s not exactly news that Jones and UFC president Dana White have had their fair share of disagreements in the past, specifically when it comes to the former UFC light heavyweight champion’s financial incentive to move up to heavyweight.
Jones has been adamant about getting a bump in pay to move up in weight, amidst ongoing talks about a heavyweight title fight with Francis Ngannou.
During a recent appearance on the “Steve-O’s Wild Ride!” podcast, Jones expanded on his ongoing contract dispute with the UFC brass and a potential move to another organization.
“In any other profession, if you’re unhappy with the way you’re being treated or the way you’re being paid, you can leave and go to the next boss and see if they value you more,” Jones said. “I’ve got a feeling that if I were able to get out of my UFC contract, I would be huge for another company.”
While this could be potentially a bargaining ploy by Jones in his tug o’ war with the UFC, it should be alarming to fans of the sport that one of the top stars in the organization may want to part ways and move on. Jones has been on a wild ride through his illustrious career in the octagon, beginning with becoming the UFC’s youngest champion at age 23 back at UFC 128.
White’s recent comments about a potential matchup between Ngannou and Jones at heavyweight probably didn’t help mend their icey relationship. After Ngannou knocked out Stipe Miocic at UFC 260, White seemed to joke about Jones challenging for the heavyweight belt next.
“If I’m Jon Jones watching this fight, I start moving down to 185,” White said in his UFC 260 post-fight press conference. “You can say you want to fight somebody, but do you really want to?”
It’ll be interesting to see where the two sides go from here. It isn’t a secret that Jones vs. Ngannou is the fight to make, but whether or not it gets done remains a question to be answered.
What do you think about Jon Jones’ latest comments about Dana White and the UFC?
