Yahoo Finance Dana White: ‘Why would I lie’ about Jon Jones? (UFC on ESPN 9 Post-Fight)
UFC president Dana White and light heavyweight champion Jon Jones have never really been what you'd say are best of friends. But their relationship, at least publicly, has certainly devolved to a rather unhealthy level.
As Jones tried to stoke the fires for a move to heavyweight for a "superfight" with top contender Francis Ngannou, he took the negotiations public proclaiming that the UFC didn't want to consider that he wanted more money for such a blockbuster bout.
Asked about Jones's tweets, White then proclaimed that Jones wanted Deontay Wilder type of money. The boxer was reported to have earned in the neighborhood of $30 million for his last fight.
Jones then fired back with a blistering series of tweets that claimed he never asked for anything near Wilder's pay. He went on to say, "If my reputation causes you to undervalue me this much. Just go ahead and release me from my UFC contract altogether."
White again addressed Jones at the UFC on ESPN 9 post-fight press conference on Saturday night in Las Vegas, this time appearing to be growing weary of having to address Jones.
"(Jones) had a great talk yesterday with Hunter, my lawyer, who’s really close to Jon Jones and likes him. They have a good relationship. They had a good talk yesterday. It is what it is. I really don’t care. I couldn’t care less, to be honest with you," said White.
"He can do whatever he wants to do. He can sit out. He can fight. He can do whatever.
"Being the greatest of all-time doesn’t mean you get $30 million Being able to sell does. Jon Jones has done a lot of things to himself. In one of his tweets, he was saying I tarnished him. I tarnished you? You’ve done a very good job of tarnishing you. I haven’t done that," White continued.
"Hunter told him. You can come in and walk through the numbers. ‘I’ll walk you through the numbers.’ And he says, ‘I don’t give a (expletive) what the numbers are. I want what I want, and that’s it.’ That’s not how life works."
White also addressed the UFC on ESPN 9 fights, navigating the pandemic, and returning to Las Vegas to hold events, amongst a host of other topics in his post-fight comments.
TRENDING > Jon Jones to Dana White: ‘Just go ahead and release me from my UFC contract’
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