Jon Jones blasts Dana White, says UFC won't budget move to heavyweight
While speaking with ESPN's Brett Okamoto on Thursday, UFC boss Dana White explained that light heavyweight champion Jon Jones "couldn’t be asking for a more absurd amount of money at a worse time" regarding a move to the heavyweight division and a fight with Francis Ngannou leading up to a potential heavyweight title bout versus either current champion Stipe Miocic or Daniel Cormier.
Those who have followed Jones' career knows "Bones" wouldn't keep silent about White's comments.
Late Thursday evening and into Friday morning, Jones unleashed a Twitter tirade and claimed White lied during the ESPN segment.
"I never asked for an absurd amount of money," added the 32-year-old seen by many as the most gifted and talented professional mixed martial arts athlete in history. Jones also called White's comments "bull----," and claimed the UFC didn't want to pay for his temporary switch to heavyweight.
Jones also lamented that UFC "shut down" what would've been an anticipated bout versus Ngannou, who is on a four-fight winning streak and who knocked Jairzinho Rozenstruik out in 20 seconds at UFC 249 on May 9.
While White did name Jones as the greatest UFC fighter of all time, he reiterated on ESPN's "First Take" on Friday that the champion was "asking for an obscene amount of money. And if Jon Jones wants to speak publicly and say what the number was, that's up to him."
Also on Thursday, White told Okamoto that he and former two-division champion Conor McGregor "have not talked about fighting" and suggested that McGregor should wait things out before booking a next match, perhaps one that would main-event a show on Fight Island.
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