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The only person responsible for Jon Jones not making $15+ million is Jon Jones, according to UFC president Dana White.
The war of words between UFC president Dana White and GOAT contender Jon Jones continues, and it doesn’t look like it will be settled any time soon.
It all started with a lot of excitement about the potential for a Jones vs. Francis Ngannou superfight at heavyweight, a fight that was quickly shot down by White. Why? According to Dana, “Bones” wanted ‘Deontay Wilder money.’ According to Jones, the UFC didn’t even get to a point where he could ask for Wilder money before telling him to pound sand. Now the two are going back and forth calling each other liars and claiming there are text messages that prove everything … text messages that aren’t going to be coming out any time soon.
“What do you do? Who do you believe? It’s up to you guys,” White said at the UFC: Woodley vs. Burns post-fight press conference. “The f**k would I lie for? What would I gain in lying about it? Why would I lie?”
To cover up the fact that you’re refusing to even discuss pay with any of your biggest stars by painting them to be the greedy and unreasonable assholes in these negotiations?
“It doesn’t matter. Obviously he’s fired up right now. And he had a great talk yesterday with Hunter [Campbell], my lawyer, who is really close to Jon Jones and likes him. And they have a good relationship and they had a talk yesterday, but it is what it is. I really don’t care. I could care less, to be honest with you. They had a good talk yesterday.”
“Those guys are tight. Jon Jones and I have always had this, you know? I’m always looking at what Jon Jones could have been. He could have been the LeBron of this sport, he could have literally been that big. The stuff that he’s been through, to basically show up and demand $15 million dollars, or $20 million dollars, or $30 million dollars, it’s crazy. So he can do whatever he wants to do. He can sit out, he can fight, he can whatever. You guys know how this works, you know how I am. Jon Jones can say whatever he wants publicly, it’s his God given right here in America, he can say whatever he wants. And when he’s ready to come back and fight, he can.”
The unspoken part here: at the current $3 to $5 million a fight he’s currently estimated as earning per fight. And it’s funny, Jones has said no problem, he’ll do that. He’ll just face Jan Blachowicz, the next contender at light heavyweight. Basic pay deserves a basic fight, as far as he’s concerned. Rematches with Thiago Silva or Dominick Reyes or Francis Ngannou will require renegotiation, and the UFC has made it clear they’re not interested.
“Being the greatest of all time doesn’t mean you get $30 million dollars,” White said. “It’s being able to sell. Jon Jones has done a lot of things to himself. In one of his tweets he was saying I tarnished his — I tarnished you? You’ve done a very good job of tarnishing you. I haven’t done that. Hunter told him, ‘You can come in here and walk through the numbers, I’ll walk you through all the numbers.’ And he said ‘I don’t give a f**k what the numbers are. I want what I want and that’s it.’”
“That’s not how life works. Why don’t you fly back to your bosses ‘I don’t give a f**k what this company makes, this is what I want and you’re going to give it to me.’ See how that f**king works out for you.”
Jones’ response implies he’s tired of the UFC being his boss:
I’d probably make more in my first boxing match than my next three UFC fights combined. There’s real estate, acting, just kicking it and being a dad. No one needs to put up with Dana‘s lies https://t.co/YKYKhqfR47
— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) May 31, 2020
What do you think, Maniacs? Will Jones walk away, or will we get an exciting title defense vs. Jan Blachowicz in the coming months?