“It’s Not a Matter of Not Wanting to Fight” – Jon Jones Responds to Dana White

Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones revealed the intricacies of being under a contract with the UFC.

Jones and Dana White have been vocal about their recent contract dispute. After failing to secure a heavyweight super-fight against Francis Ngannou, the American fighter publicly announced his displeasure with the UFC. The situation worsened when White lashed out at Jones.

Since then, they have been going back and forth. White has repeated several times that these are not normal times and people are losing their minds—including himself— because of the pandemic. During a backstage interview after UFC 250, White said:

“Listen, if you don’t think that what I’m doing right now is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and if you don’t think that three times a day I don’t throw my (expletive) hands up and I’m ready to say, ‘(Expletive) this (expletive)’ – believe me, (I am),” White said. “And the amount of people that I have gunning at me right now is insane. It’s insane. But here we are.” (Transcript via MMA Junkie)

Dana White denies forcing anybody to fight

White, who loves to work with Conor McGregor, responded similarly to the Irishman’s retirement. The UFC juggernaut reiterated that he is not forcing anybody to compete. And that includes Jorge Masvidal too.

“You don’t have to fight. If these guys want to sit out and retire, if that’s what Conor McGregor, Jon Jones, and Jorge Masvidal are feeling right now, I feel you. One a certain level, I understand it! We’ve been here before, this has happened to us before, more than once too,” Dana White said.

Jon Jones fires back at Dana White

It seems like Jon has not let go of the bitterness yet. In one of his latest tweets, “Bones” said that the real issue is not being able to fight anywhere besides the UFC.

Based on his past comments, there is no doubt that Jones is willing to vacate his light heavyweight belt and leave the company. Even Masvidal had stated similar intentions. However, as Jones mentioned, it is not easy to leave the organization. He will either have to fight out the remaining matches on his contract. Or have the UFC cut him loose.