Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
“I know we’re in a pandemic, and I know when you’re a multimillionaire and you’re asking for more, it makes you seem like this greedy person,” Jones said. “I’m very aware of all of this, but I’m also very aware that I have the voice and the platform to make change.”
When Henry Cejudo retired from mixed martial arts (MMA), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) promptly scrubbed his name from the official rankings before setting up a title bout between Petr Yan and Jose Aldo, who will collide at UFC 251 for the vacant strap.
Probably because “Triple C” — and I say this with zero disrespect — is not a bona fide pay-per-view (PPV) draw and is perhaps more expendable than light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who also vacated his belt but can’t seem to get UFC President Dana White to play along.
“I know so many fighters who are living in the Jackson-Wink MMA gym because they can’t afford to have their own apartment, and they’re UFC fighters,” Jones told the Steve-O podcast (via MMA Junkie). “So this is sad. And if I have to have a bad relationship with Dana, sit out for two years, three years, to bring light to what’s happening, then these are the things people remember you for more than winning belts. I stood for the younger fighters.”
Jones, 32, is widely considered to be the top pound-for-pound fighter in MMA and has long reigned over the promotion’s 205-pound division. The only time “Bones” has been separated from his title is when he’s screwed up his personal life.
Or been felled by those pesky picograms.
White is confident that sooner or later he’ll be able to reopen dialogue with Jones (26-1, 1 NC), who is still miffed that he couldn’t score a super-sized payday for a potential Francis Ngannou fight, part of his planned move to the heavyweight division.
See you in 2023?