Dana White isn’t interested in seeing Jon Jones face Alex Pereira and is all in favor of giving Tom Aspinall a chance to unify the UFC’s heavyweight titles.
This sentiment from the UFC president comes after witnessing Jones’s brutal work at UFC 309. Jones battered Stipe Miocic for three rounds before ending things with a perfectly placed spinning back-kick and ensuing punches.
Jones also showed no signs of ring rust despite the extended time off. He last saw action in 2023 at UFC 285, finishing Ciryl Gane via submission early into the first round to win the UFC heavyweight title. Now, after his latest victory this past Saturday night, he’s on top of the world and seems eager to return to the cage.
Jon Jones and Dana white speak on the Tom Aspinall fight
After the fights at UFC 309, Dana White had the chance to address the Jon Jones situation and speak about what Jones wanted in contrast to what White himself wanted to see happen.
See, Jon Jones prefers a mega-fight against Brazilian superstar Alex Pereira. However, Tom Aspinall currently holds the interim UFC heavyweight championship and has been actively defending it. If fights were awarded based on merit, it would be a no-brainer for Aspinall to face Jones next. Sadly, that’s not the world we live in, as Jones doesn’t want to fight Aspinall because he’s an “as*hole”.
“There’s a part of me that does [want to compete with him], but if I’m being completely honest, I feel like Tom’s been such an a**hole that I don’t want to do business with him,” Jon Jones said prior to his fight with Miocic (H/T Daily Mail UK). “His fans have been so annoying.”
“Obviously, you don’t get this far getting affected by fans and whatnot, but he’s just an a**hole. He’s 30, so he’s from this influencer generation where you hop online, t-shirt sales, and all that. I’m past that type of stuff. If you had a little bit more respect, maybe we could’ve worked something out.”
“This is a business, and fighting me gives him an opportunity to change his life forever. I don’t even want to give him the opportunity. He just played his cards wrong with me.”
“I’m three years away from being a 40-year-old, grown man. The press conference, going through the whole shebang with him, I’d just rather not do.”
Dana White chimes in and hypes up the Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall Fight
The UFC president, Dana White, is no longer interested in seeing an Alex Pereira vs. Jon Jones fight now, so ‘Bones’ might be all out of options if he wants to continue his UFC career. After the fights, White had this to say about the matchup:
“It will be [the biggest heavyweight fight of all time]. ”He [Jon Jones] will be [well compensated]. You know what tonight told me? There’s no f***ing way I’d make the [Alex] Pereira fight. Jon’s too big. Great wrestler.”
“I like Alex Pereira, I like him personally,” Dana White continued. “But it just doesn’t make sense to make that fight.”
Jon Jones, however, had more to say on the matter: “One of the really good things about negotiating is being willing to walk away from a deal, and that’s the deal that I want. If that’s not what the fans want, I guess I’ll say sayonara.”
“I’ve learned over the years not to really get into finances publicly.” Jones continued. “But I want to be compensated to the matter where if I won or lost then it really wouldn’t matter.”
Do you think Jon Jones will fight Tom Aspinall, or does Dana White and the UFC fail to get the deal done?