Jon Jones Dares UFC to Release Him, as Tensions With Dana White Escalate

The possibility of a fight between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou has gone from a bout everyone was buzzing about, to an issue that’s creating a serious rift between “Bones” and Dana White.

Jones challenges UFC to release him

Not long ago, Jones made headlines by calling for a fight with Ngannou next, and hype for the super fight quickly spiked.

Several days later, however, Jones claimed that the UFC wasn’t willing to pay him more for the fight. A fired up Jones said he may head to the sidelines as a result, before reporting he had calmed down and that he was refocusing on his light-heavyweight title.

Well, since then, White claimed in an interview that Jones is asking for an “absurd amount of money” to fight Ngannou. Jones was quick to accuse White of lying.

On Friday, White claimed that during talks for the Ngannou  bout, Jones asked for the type of money boxing star Deontay Wilder makes. It’s been estimated the latter made $30 million for his last fight.

White also referred to Jones’ well documented issues with the law, by saying this.

“The guy’s made a lot of money. If you look at Jon Jones’ track record, show me somebody that has the track record that this guy has and has made the money that Jon Jones has made. It doesn’t happen.”

The UFC President’s comments clearly fired Jones up, as since then, the light-heavyweight champ tweeted out this to White.

“If you’re going to stick to these lies, I’m going to stick to defending myself. Please have your lawyer Hunter Campbell release those text messages.”

“Don’t be a f-cking liar, my reputation has already taking enough hits. I don’t need this bullsh-t Dana. I never asked for Diante Wilder‘s numbers. And how about since Diante is making 30 million, we settle for half of that. Since you said I’m the goat and everything.”

“I don’t even make half of half of what Diante Wilder makes. If my reputation causes you to undervalue me this much. Just go ahead and release me from my @Ufc contract altogether. I’m sure some promoter somewhere will be more than happy to pick me up.”

And if I wanted to compare money to someone else, I would compare money to my brothers. I see firsthand the way the NFL treats their champion athletes, there’s a huge difference. I’ve kept my mouth shut my entire career.”

“Do I make 5+ per fight yes. Should I stick to that number for my super fights? No. If you don’t agree with me you just don’t know business. I certainly didn’t ask for 30, never even threw out a number.”

Where’s this headed?

So, clearly things are escalating fast here, and it will be interesting to see if cooler heads prevail. You would think the UFC will take steps to make amends with arguably the greatest fighter of all time. But, you never know.

The fact Jones is citing what his brothers have earned playing in the NFL is particularly interesting. As for years, a lot of people who have argued fighters should be paid more, have said widespread change won’t happen, until MMA’s biggest stars begin publicly campaigning for more money.