LAS VEGAS – UFC president Dana White is doubling down.
At Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 9 post-fight news conference, White was asked about Jon Jones’ recent claims that he lied about a series of text messages.
“What do you do?” White said. “Who do you believe? It’s up to you guys. What the (expletive) would I lie for? What do I have to gain from lying about it? Why would I lie? It doesn’t matter. You know what I mean? Obviously, he’s fired up right now.”
White said the discourse has been progressing between UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell and UFC light heavyweight champion Jones (26-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC) over the past few days. However, White made a point to bring up how he and Jones have always had issues.
“(Jones) had a great talk yesterday with Hunter, my lawyer, who’s really close to Jon Jones and likes him,” White said. “They have a good relationship. They had a good talk yesterday. It is what it is. I really don’t care. I couldn’t care less, to be honest with you.
“… They had a good talk. They had a good talk yesterday. Those guys are tight. Jon Jones and I have always had this. I’m always looking at what Jon Jones could’ve been. He could have been the LeBron (James) of this sport. He could have been that big. The stuff that’s he been through, to show up and think he basically (demanded) $15 million, or $20 million, or $30 million, it’s crazy. He can do whatever he wants to do. He can sit out. He can fight. He can do whatever.”
In a recent interview, White said Jones was No. 1 in his personal pound-for-pound rankings. However, he said being great and being a draw are two different things. White brought up Jones’ many past outside-the-cage issues and how he thinks it impacted the longtime UFC champion’s business. He also took exception with a tweet Jones published, implying White hurt Jones’ reputation.
“Being the greatest of all-time doesn’t mean you get $30 million,” White said. “Being able to sell (does). Jon Jones has done a lot of things to himself. In one of his tweets, he was saying I tarnished him. 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 and walk through the numbers. ‘I’ll walk you through the numbers.’ And he says, ‘I don’t give a (expletive) what the numbers are. I want what I want, and that’s it.’ That’s not how life works. Why don’t you guys fly back and tell your boss, ‘(Expletive) what this company makes. This is what I want and you’re going to give it to me.’ See how that (expletive) works out for you.”
UFC on ESPN 9 took place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The event aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.