Dana White has all but given up hope that we’ll be seeing Jon Jones competing at heavyweight in the foreseeable future.
Jon Jones has shown all the signs of a man eager to compete as a UFC heavyweight. He’s said all the right things regarding his motivation and provided the visual evidence to prove it, showing the man widely known as “Bones” beefing up and also putting in the work on advancing his cardio and overall athletic footprint.
According to Dana White, this is all show and no go because, despite the promotion’s best efforts, he says they have been unable to come to terms with Jones regarding a heavyweight debut (transcription via Nolan King of MMA Junkie).
“Jon Jones is under contract,” White said on “The Jake Asman Show.” “He has a contract. We have tried to work with him and see if there are things we can do to make him want to fight at heavyweight. But if he doesn’t want to fight at heavyweight, he doesn’t want to at the end of the day. What are you going to do? You can’t make the guy fight.
“The reality is Derrick Lewis is really the No. 1 contender for the heavyweight championship right now. It doesn’t matter if Jon Jones wants to fight or doesn’t want to fight.”
Dana White’s towel-throwing regarding a Jones heavyweight debut isn’t limited to a fight between Jones and champ Francis Ngannou happening any time soon. He doesn’t believe Jones is ready for any fight at heavyweight. White came to this conclusion after his idea of a potential fight between Jones and Stipe Miocic was also shot down by the former light heavyweight king.
“Well, Jon Jones made it very clear that he has no interest in fighting Stipe, so it doesn’t really matter,” White said. “What you do is you do the fight with Derrick Lewis and Francis and then Stipe gets the winner.”
This is great news for Stipe Miocic and his fans but disappointing news for all the fans who thought we’d finally be seeing Jon Jones compete as a heavyweight after numerous years of this being a fantasy.
Jon Jones has responded to similar comments from White in the past, countering that he very much wants to compete at heavyweight but only if he is compensated fairly. With 2021 on pace to possibly being Jones’s most active Twitter year to date, he’ll likely have more to say on the social media platform after he comes across these latest remarks from White.
What do you make of Dana White’s grim update on a Jon Jones move up to heavyweight?