Jon Jones demands release from UFC contract; teases move to boxing
At Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 9 post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White said that he doesn't care if reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones chooses to stay or leave the UFC, he will not give in to the demands of the #1 UFC pound-for-pound fighter regarding a pay-raise.
Jon Jones dares Dana White to release him from his current contract with the UFC
The champion Jon Jones didn't waste much time before firing back at White for his most recent comments on the matter. Jon Jones and Dana White recently engaged in a very nasty back-and-forth in public, making headlines for the wrong reasons. It started when White said that Jones was pushing the promotion for a massive payday to move up a weight class and take on top heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou in a superfight but the former immediately denied the request.
White's comments stung Jones and the latter then took to Twitter to launch a barrage of verbal attacks on the UFC president, calling him a liar and daring him to reveal the text messages in which he allegedly requested a payday close to $30 million.
At the UFC on ESPN 9 post-fight press conference, White explained the reason for refusing to pay Jones the amount he asked for by saying that Jones is not worthy of that kind of money because his history of troubles with the law and usage of performance enhancing drugs don't make him sellable enough to demand a $30 million payday.
Jones didn’t take kindly to this and responded via a series of tweets bashing the UFC frontman.
The reporter asked Dana to show the text messages instead he gives a 55 second response talking about why would I lie
At no point did I ever demand anything from you Dana, I simply asked for a Super fight and asked to be compensated for it. You are the one who started talking negotiations publicly and showing the world how much you’ve been withholding from your athletes this whole time
Jones further dared Dana to release him from his current UFC contract and said that he'd make thrice as much money as he is making with the UFC if he makes a move to boxing.
You’re talking all that big guy stuff about not caring, put your money where your mouth is and release me from that contract
I’d probably make more in my first boxing match than my next three UFC fights combined. There’s real estate, acting, just kicking it and being a dad. No one needs to put up with Dana‘s lies