Things continued to get interesting in the UFC’s heavyweight division shortly after a new champion was crowned.
For the time being, the Miocic era is over in the heavyweight division, and the Ngannou era began with the thunderous quake that would be expected from its arrival. After Ngannou disposed of Miocic in the second round to become the new heavyweight king, as is customary with human nature, the instant question became, “Who’s next?”
Of course, that question had a pre-submitted answer of “Jon ‘Bones’ Jones.” White had said long prior to the fight that Jones would be next in line for the winner of the Ngannou/Miocic rematch. The moment the outcome of Saturday’s main event became clear, however, the answer suddenly became muddled.
Jon Jones & Dana White Clash From Afar
Immediately following Francis Ngannou’s victory over Miocic, Jones was quick to initiate the new conversation. After a since-deleted tweet saying “Let’s play, baby” Jones posted this:
“Show me the money,” the tweet reads.
When Dana White took the stage to field questions from reporters in the UFC 260 post-fight press conference, he was asked to confirm Ngannou/Jones as the next fight to make. From the start, White’s tone did not sound very promising.
“If I’m Jon Jones and I’m home watching this fight, I start moving to ‘85,” White said. “Listen, I could sit here all day and tell you what ‘Show me the money’ means. I tell you guys this all the time. You can say you want to fight somebody. But do you really want to?”
Jon Jones was either watching the press conference or closely monitoring live tweets, because he was right on top of Dana White’s remarks and did not take kindly to them one iota.
“Go to 185? I didn’t gain all this weight for no reason.”
“If anyone is wondering if I really want to fight, the answer is yes. I also really want to get paid.”
“Why does a fighter have to be afraid the second he mentions he wants to get paid his worth. What an insult.”
“Conor McGregor wants big money, it’s expected. Jon Jones wants money, now he’s scare (sic).”
“I’ve been working my butt off, gained all this weight. Have never lost a fight before. Now all of a sudden I am scared. What bullshit.”
Jones was then asked by a fan if he wants “to fight or not,” to which the former light heavyweight king replied:
“I’ve been fighting my whole adult life, this shit just don’t feel right when you feel undervalued. It’s not an issue of wanting to fight. It’s an issue of wanting to be paid better. Let’s make that clear.”
Let The Negotiations Begin
Meanwhile, Dana White was still speaking to reporters. And he had no issue with publicizing his plan B if Jones doesn’t want to play ball.
“Oh, Derrick Lewis is the fight to make,” White began. “But if Jon Jones really wants that fight…listen, it’s one thing to go out, and tweet, and say you want it, and ‘I put on the weight and I did this and that,’ do you want the fight? I promise you we can call Derrick Lewis and one of these other heavyweights, and they want the fight. If Jon Jones really wants the fight, Jon Jones knows he can get the fight. All he’s got to do is call and do it.”
Jones, still watching, would continue to tweet his objections to White’s remarks. In summary, the tweets expressed how he’s already established from a legacy standpoint and feels that nothing about asking for improved pay should be subject to slander. But there was a lone tweet that did provide some hope for those praying for a Ngannou/Jones showdown.
“Talked to the UFC about giving me a proposal next week, I’ll let you know how it goes. I’ll be 100% upfront with you guys.. i’ll let you guys tell me if I’m asking for ridiculous numbers or not,” Jones wrote in a since-deleted tweet.
That about wraps it up. So what do you think? Will we be seeing Francis Ngannou vs. Jon Jones in 2021?