Dana White Says He’ll “Figure it Out” With Jon Jones

Recently Jon Jones raised eyebrows throughout the game, by claiming he’s giving up the UFC’s light-heavyweight title, marking the latest escalation in his verbal war with Dana White. But, according to the latter, Jones and the UFC will work it all out.

“It’s like any other relationship”

Following Jones call for a fight with Francis Ngannou, his relationship with the UFC and Dana White has been taking and in a hurry.

Jones claims the UFC was unwilling to pay him anymore for a bout with Ngannou, while White says the light-heavyweight champ was asking for way too much money. He also alluded to the ongoing pandemic, as to why the time is not right to be asking for more money.

The two have been trading verbal shots as a result, and more recently, Jones claimed he’s dropped the light-heavyweight title. “Bones” also said he could return in 2021 for a fight with Israel Adesanya, provided, of course, the UFC is willing to compensate him more.

Since the escalating tensions have been dominating headlines the last couple of weeks, White was asked about the situation, while appearing on  Eddie Hearn’s Talk the Talk podcast. Here’s what the UFC President had to say (quotes via MMA Fighting).

“You’re not always going to agree on everything,” White said. “Jon Jones and I do not agree on something right now.

We’re having a disagreement, but Jon Jones is a partner in this business. Conor McGregor is a partner in this business.

The list goes on and on. When you get to that level, when you become a star or a world champion like these guys are, they’re a partner.

“We don’t agree right now on things, and we’re going to fight and we say things, the thing that’s going on in public, and eventually you get to a point where you get tired of fighting and you figure it out.

It’s like any other relationship.”

It’s certainly true that White has feuded with fighters in the past, and cooler heads prevailed. Or, the relationship was mended to the point where the fighter returned to the Octagon.

In fact, Jones and White have verbally sparred in the past, and “Bones” continued to compete under the UFC banner. 

White refers to pay-per-view model

In recent years, there’s been lots of debate about UFC revenues, and how much of that is allocated to fighters. Many have argued that the time is well past due, whereby, the UFC should guaranteed more money to fighters upfront.

But, based off the comment below, one could infer White doesn’t plan to revisit the compensation model.

“The way that it works in the UFC, these guys that become these big stars, become partners,” White said.

“They become partners in the pay-per-view and selling the pay-per-view. That’s how we all make money.”

So, we’ll see what happens here and whether Jones changes his mind. Or, could the UFC blink first?