Jon Jones’ Negotiations Hurdle Exposed in Hard Hitting Reminder on Forcing Dana White’s Hand

This week, fight fans were surprised when UFC heavyweight Jon Jones made a significant change in his plans. Initially, ‘Bones’ had expressed no interest in facing interim champion Tom Aspinall, preferring to challenge the 205lbs kingpin Alex Pereira. However, Jones’ stance recently shifted when he announced, “So right now, the UFC and I, we’re in negotiations.” What could be the reason behind this change?

Of course, UFC president Dana White’s involvement, who quickly made it clear after UFC 309 this month that if ‘Bones’ wanted to fight again, it would be against Aspinall. White stated, “If Jon Jones wants to fight again after Saturday night, he will fight Tom Aspinall.” Under pressure, Jon Jones responded with a defiant “f*ck you money” request, pushing the negotiations forward.

Amid these ongoing talks, fighter-turned-analyst Chael Sonnen weighed in on his YouTube channel, criticizing Jones’s sneaky efforts. Sonnen pointed out that Jones had already renegotiated his contract after moving up to heavyweight in 2023 to face Ciryl Gane.

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“The renegotiation happened. Now, since the renegotiation,” ‘The Bad Guy’ reminded champion, “you got thrown a fish called Ciryl Gane, and then you had a fight against a 40-plus-year-old man in Stipe. That’s just the truth—that’s what happened. And now you want to sit down and renegotiate? We just did that.”

However, Sonnen pointed out that Jon Jones’ willingness to take on bigger risks inside the octagon reflects his confidence. He emphasized that it’s a challenging request, especially in light of Jones’ recent contract discussions with the UFC. Meanwhile, Dana White seemed displeased with ‘Bones’ recent callouts and statements. This tension was further highlighted by Chael Sonnen’s co-host, Daniel Cormier, who recently discussed the relationship between Jon Jones and White on his podcast.

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Daniel Cormier highlights the air of uneasiness between White and JonesEarlier this year, Dana White became the subject of mockery when he denied the authenticity of the UFC pound-for-pound rankings, in which Islam Makhachev held the top position, calling Jon Jones the more deserving candidate. However, in this month’s update, no change was made to Jones’ position, which caused White to lose his cool. He rallied against the ranking system creators and their methods. And even announced plans to replace the human module of the rankings with AI, with the help of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “I have to get rid of these clowns,” White wrote on Instagram, tagging Zuckerberg.

One can wonder that if a promotion is hellbent on backing its top dog to this extent, then the contender in return would be willing to meet the company on an equal front. Well, to everyone’s surprise; that is not the case. Despite Dana White’s backing, Jon Jones was not keen on accepting White’s request to face Tom Aspinall to preserve the authenticity of the promotion’s name. ‘Bones’ even threatened to vacate the title to fight Alex Pereira instead, which led to much tension within the promotion. Dana White rejected this notion outright, saying, “No f-cking way.”

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Recently, on his YouTube podcast “Good Guy, Bad Guy,” Daniel Cormier predicted the supposed rift between the two close friends. Cormier stated, “They’ve been pretty aligned lately, Jones and Dana. This is the first time—I’m not saying they’re not aligned anymore. But the first time Dana has said, ‘No, it’s Tom Aspinall.’ Then he added, ‘If he fights Alex, he’s just going to take him down, right? He’s bigger, he kind of knows,’ and that’s like, you can’t trick the public.”

What do you think about Chael Sonnen’s comments? Do you agree that renegotiating Jon Jones’ contract with Dana White and the UFC so soon after two fights won’t make a significant difference? Or do you believe his request for renegotiation is justified? Share your thoughts below.