Jon Jones wants to set the record straight.
After UFC CEO Dana White said this past weekend that the former two-division champion was never in the running to headline the historic White House card in June, Jones took to social media to fire back. While White admitted that the UFC was in talks with Jones about a potential fight, he said he personally told Jones’ lawyer a spot at the White House was “never going to happen, ever.”
In response, Jones claims he was in talks with the UFC as recently as a few days ago about returning for the White House card before negotiations fell apart. Jones also addressed his long term health after White spoke about problems he was facing, which included a potential hip replacement down the road.
“Hey everyone, I wanted to address Dana White’s comments from this past weekend, because the truth matters to me and the fans,” Jones wrote on Twitter. “Dana, you were heated about why I’m not on the White House card, but let’s clear something up. My team and I were actually negotiating with the UFC for that fight. Real negotiations. I even came down from my original number, and what was I offered in return? I was lowballed.
“Yes, I have arthritis in my hip and it’s painful, but that doesn’t mean I can’t fight. So let me get this straight, if I had accepted the lowball offer, suddenly my hip would be fine and I’d be on the White House card? That doesn’t make sense. I even received stem cell treatment last week to get ready for the White House card, and training camp was scheduled to start today. I was preparing to be ready. “
Jones was rumored for a potential showdown against Alex Pereira after both fighters requested the matchup in recent months. In the end, the UFC booked Pereira against Ciryl Gane in an interim heavyweight title fight on the card instead.
As a result of the failed negotiations and the public statements from White regarding the upcoming White House card, Jones went as far as requesting his release from the UFC .
“I understand business deals fall through sometimes, but going out publicly and saying things that aren’t true isn’t right,” Jones said. “After everything I’ve given to the UFC , the years, the title defenses, the fights, hearing that I’m ‘done’ is disappointing. Especially when as recently as Friday UFC was calling me trying to get me on that White House card for a much lower number.
“If the UFC truly feels like I’m done, then I respectfully ask to be released from my contract today. No more spins, no more games. Thank you to the real fans who know what’s up.”
Jones retired from the sport after the UFC attempted to book him in a heavyweight title unification bout against Tom Aspinall. Just days later, Jones announced he was coming back with hopes of landing on the UFC White House card, although the UFC CEO immediately shot that down and claimed he couldn’t trust Jones to appear on such a historic event following so many outside the cage issues during his career.
Now it appears Jones is back at odds with the UFC over the claims made about the White House card and whether or not he was actually going to be included.
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