Ultimate Fighting Championship star Jon Jones is
willing to “let bygones be bygones” to do business with Dana
White.
They recently had a falling out. White was strongly backing Jones
when the former two-division champion was being accused of trying
to avoid interim champion Tom
Aspinall. White kept assuring fans that Jones would eventually
fight Aspinall. However, Jones ultimately vacated the belt,
creating tension between himself and the UFC CEO.
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Jones (28-1) returned to the drug testing pool just weeks later,
when plans for the
UFC Freedom 250 were first mentioned. „Bones“ repeatedly
campaigned for a spot on the card, but failed to do so as White
made it clear that Jones was never even in consideration to fight
at the White House. This drew the ire of Jones, who claimed he was
indeed in negotiations for the historic event and started publicly
asking for his UFC release.
Jon Jones addresses Dana White fallout after UFC Freedom 250
controversy
The tension between the two parties has seemingly dissipated since
then. Jones was recently at
UFC 329 cornering Gable
Steveson for his UFC debut.
He even took a picture with White, whom he recently called a
“homie.” Jones now claims that he doesn’t hold any grudges against
the latter, regardless of his personal opinion about the UFC head
honcho. Jones acknowledges that both he and White have financially
benefited from each other and is willing to let go of past feuds to
do business with White in the future.
While Jones doesn’t think he will be invited to White’s Christmas
dinner, he will always respect the UFC CEO for changing his
life.
“In order to do big business, you can’t hold grudges,” Jones told
Ring Magazine. “You got to be able to let bygones be bygones. You
have to be able to work with people that you don’t love. I’ve made
Dana millions of dollars over the years, and he’s made me millions
of dollars over the years. So, it’s not always about how you feel
about a person. It’s like, ‘Can we still work together? Can we
still do business together?’ And I feel like we’re always gonna be
able to make money together. Will I be invited to his house on
Christmas? Probably not. But the guy changed my life, and he is a
homie for life. Despite how he feels about me, I’m always gonna
give him that respect.”
Jones also revealed that he is still under contract with the UFC
and is part of the drug testing pool. He hasn’t entirely ruled out
a return to the promotion.