UFC president Dana White is all praises towards Jon Jones after the light heavyweight champion was cleared by the Nevada State Athletic Commission to fight at UFC 235.
More than a couple of years ago, Dana White was not exactly a big fan of Jon Jones. At the time, the UFC president was not too keen on having Jones headline a UFC card, because of the latter’s constant drug test woes.
“In my opinion, I would never take the risk of headlining a show with Jon Jones again,” White told Jim Rome in a late 2016 interview, stemming from Jones’ UFC 200 drug test failure in July of that year. “I’d put him on the card, but I wouldn’t headline with him until he consistently gets back on track. Millions of dollars are spent on this.
“And for a card to fall apart — how many cards have fallen apart because Jon Jones gets in trouble for something? So, no, I’m not at that place with him.”
Fast forward to 2018, where White and the UFC were willing to move an entire fight card from Las Vegas to California in a week’s time to accommodate Jones and his scheduled fight against Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232. And now that “Bones” has been given clearance for his title fight against Anthony Smith at UFC 235, White had this to say.
“What they want to do is they’re gonna give him a temporary license and they’re gonna keep drug testing him until his next fight,” White said during his guesting on ESPN’s SportsCenter on Tuesday.
“I’m rooting for the guy. I hope he does it. He’s one of the best ever, maybe the greatest ever, and he’s fun to watch fight. So hopefully, he can keep his personal life together and pass these tests and continue to cement his legacy in the sport.”
Jones and Smith will officially headline UFC 235, which takes place on March 2nd at the T-Mobile Arena. Co-headlining the card is another title fight between welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and Kamaru Usman.