Jon Jones recently joined forces with legendary boxing promoter Richard Schaefer ahead of his potential heavyweight debut. It’s been a while since Jon Jones and Dana White have been taking shots at each other in the negotiation battle for a potential fight with Francis Ngannou.
Though Jones has been training for his heavyweight debut for over a year now he has not been able to make an octagon return due to the negotiation issue. And if he never comes back to fight in UFC it’s not going to bother Dana White. In a recent interview with Yahoo Sports, Dana White gives his honest thoughts about Jon Jones’ future in UFC.
Dana White praised Jones for his achievements and the potential he once had and still has to make an impact on the sport. But, he also said that even if Jon Jones decides to retire without making fighting again in UFC he is okay with that. Dana White stated:
“But I’ve been doing the Jon Jones thing for like 10 years. I know how this thing works. Jon Jones is a different animal. Listen a fight came to a deal with Brock Lesnar and Fedor at a time. That’s not Jon. Jon is one of those guys that could have blown the sport, he could have had a Nike deal where he had shoes with Nike for the next 25-30 years after he retired and stuff like that. I get excited when I know Jones is really coming and he is going to fight. So I swore to set myself up, if he does not he does not. Jon Jones goes out on top. If he calls tomorrow and said I retire, I would not be shocked, I would not be devastated. I would say good for him.”
Dana White is interested in making Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic
But Dana White also made it clear that if Jones wants to fight again all he has to do is ask for a fight. White stated:
“If Jon Jones calls tomorrow and says I want to fight Stipe. Awesome. Let’s make it, let’s keep it going.”
At the moment it does not seem Jones is going to make a return in 2021. Francis Ngannou and Derrick Lewis are going to fight later this year and if Jones does not take the next opportunity to fight for the title then UFC might provide the title shot to the former champion Stipe Miocic. Though Jones hiring Richard Schaefer is a good sign his future in UFC remains still uncertain.
