Dana White continues to talk up Jon Jones amid intense criticism.
The UFC CEO has faced backlash for insisting his heavyweight champion is the pound-for-pound number one, despite the fact he’s only fought once in four years.
White has repeatedly mocked the media members who have ranked Islam Makhachev and Alex Pereira above Jones, who sits third on the UFC’s official list.
On Tuesday evening, MMA’s big boss was about to wrap up his Contender Series press conference when a member of the media jokingly brought up Jones’ P4P credentials.
White sat down and argued his point with the reporters for more than 12 minutes.
He began: “Are you guys that f***ing stupid?
“You can’t be that f***ing stupid to think that Jon Jones is not the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world and the GOAT [Greatest Of All Time], but maybe you are.”
The 54-year-old implored the people in front of him to debate the subject.
“Question me,” White said. “Who’s better than Jon Jones? Who’s pound-for-pound better than Jon Jones?”
Veteran MMA reporter John Morgan jumped in and suggested that Jones cannot be considered the current best fighter because he’s not active enough.
White defended Jones by pointing out that he is currently injured but remains an active fight and is booked to defend his belt against Stipe Miocic in November.
He replied: “You talk about inactivity and that he’s only fought one time.
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UFC POUND-FOR-POUND TOP 10
- Islam Makhachev
- Alex Pereira
- Jon Jones
- Ilia Topuria
- Dricus du Plessis
- Sean O’Malley
- Belal Muhammad
- Tom Aspinall
- Leon Edwards
- Alexander Volkanovski
“Jon Jones was supposed to fight. If Jon Jones was sitting on the couch saying, ‘I don’t know when I’m going to fight again,’ then he’s definitely not in the pound-for-pound discussion right now.
“He was scheduled to fight, and he got injured. He’s an active fighter.”
White proceeded to make the case against Makhachev by pointing out many people thought he lost his first fight against Alexander Volkanovski, who stepped up a division to fight him twice in 2023.
“I don’t want to s*** on any of my guys,” the UFC CEO insisted.
“Islam, many people believe, lost to the guy who’s a weight class below him. Is that how pound-for-pound works?
“He fought a weight class down. Jon Jones fought a weight class up.”
Another well-known reporter, Kevin Iole, expressed his belief that Jones’ level of competition also contributes to him being ranked third on the P4P list.
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Whilst he’s planning a fight with Miocic, who hasn’t fought since being KO’d by Francis Ngannou in March 2021, Tom Aspinall is beating the best heavyweights on the roster.
“Here’s the flip side to that,” White fired back. “What do I do? The guy who’s looked at as the greatest heavyweight in the UFC, right?
This fight’s set up. Jon Jones gets hurt. It’s not his fault. He has to wait and go back into training camp again. He was training. So, do I just yank it away from Stipe and say, ‘Hey, go f*** yourself and sit on the sidelines for two more years’?
“If I did that you guys would be like, ‘Oh, you f***ing disrespected the greatest heavyweight ever,’ so would the f***ing fans.
“So I should just s*** on Stipe because Jon got hurt, and not make the fight? This is the fight [they] both want. What do you do?
“You don’t show the guys their respect. I guarantee you this, if Stipe wins, Stipe is going to retire. This will be Stipe’s last fight.
“Are you, the media, telling me I should just tell Stipe to f*** off and [say] ‘Good luck to you, Stipe. Go ride off into the sunset and fight some fires and that’s a wrap for you, buddy,’” because Jon got hurt?”
White ended the debate with the statement that started it 12 minutes earlier.
“Jon Jones is the pound-for-pound best fighter,” he said with a smirk as he got out of seats, dropped the mic, and made a quick exit.
News Summary:
- Dana White in heated argument with reporters for 12 minutes about Jon Jones being pound-for-pound best UFC fighter
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