“What About Jon Jones?”- Tom Aspinall Reacts To UFC Leaving Jones Out Of White House Event
Last weekend at the main card of UFC 326, the promotion finally announced the much-anticipated White House event. In the main event, the lightweight champion Ilia Topuria will defend his belt against Justin Gaethje. In the co-main event, Alex Pereira takes on Ciryl Gane for an interim heavyweight championship bout.
What’s shocking was Pereira was expected to fight the former heavyweight champion, Jon Jones. However, the fight didn’t happen, and the current champion, Tom Aspinall, was surprised by the announcement.
“What about Jon Jones? I thought Jon Jones was on it. Where has he gone, Jon? I thought they were gonna do Topuria vs. Islam and Pereira vs. Jones,” said Tom Aspinall via YouTube.
Following that, during the press conference, CEO Dana White mentioned that they had a discussion with Jon Jones. However, they had no plans to give ‘Bones’ a place in the White House event. White went on a huge rant, talking about Jones suffering from severe arthritis and should end his fighting career.
Despite years of working with the promotion, Jones has always had a complicated relationship with the UFC. Last year, Jones backed out of the Tom Aspinall fight despite the UFC accepting his fight purse requirements. As expected, this didn’t go well with Jones, who didn’t hesitate to blast the promotion on the internet.
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Jon Jones sends his final message to UFC amid recent controversy
Following Dana White’s comments, Jon Jones was furious and made several emotionally charged posts on X. The fighter was extremely excited for the White House event, but didn’t get the opportunity and felt betrayed by the promotion.
Jones has been in the UFC for more than 15 years and has fought some of the biggest names in the promotion’s history. In the X post, ‘Bones’ sends his final message to the UFC heads with a warning.
“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. After everything I’ve given to the UFC , the years, the title defenses, the fights , hearing that I’m “done” is disappointing…If the UFC truly feels like I’m done, then I respectfully ask to be released from my contract today,” Jon Jones via X.
According to Jon Jones, the money offered for the White House event was too low, leading him to decline the opportunity. Tom Aspinall also shared his thoughts on the situation, criticizing the UFC and suggesting that a legendary fighter like Jones deserves far better compensation.
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