Dana White wasn’t aware Jon Jones had been causing a stir on social media this week.
In recent days, the UFC heavyweight champion has teased retirement and explained why he won’t fight Tom Aspinall.
‘Bones’ also called out Francis Ngannou, who hasn’t been under contract with the UFC since 2023.
All of this caught Dana White off guard during his UFC 316 post-fight press conference on Saturday night.
- READ MORE: ‘Now we’re talking’ … Jon Jones sidesteps Tom Aspinall title unification for ‘real super-fight’
Dana White says Jon Jones accepted Tom Aspinall fight
The UFC CEO was repeatedly probed by journalists, including Bloody Elbow’s Donagh Corby, about Jon Jones post-fight at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
“Yeah, I’ve been saying it since the beginning,” White said when asked if he still believes Jones vs Aspinall will happen.
He added: “Jon Jones agreed to do the fight.
“Jon Jones was offered the deal and accepted the deal.”
White dropped that bombshell like it was nothing, so someone in the room asked him to clarify.
“Jon agreed to fight Tom, yes.
“You guys have heard me for the last however long, I said, ‘I guarantee this fight is going to happen.’
“Yes, I’ve been saying Jon is gonna fight Tom.”
Dana White is not interested in re-signing Francis Ngannou
Jon Jones calling out Francis Ngannou led to a ‘winner takes all’ offer from PFL boss Donn Davis.
Dana White broke his silence on Jones vs Ngannou to shut down talk of a crossover fight.
“It’s Aspinall’s fight,” he replied when asked if there was anything either Ngannou or PFL could do to make the Jones fight happen. “I mean, we’ve been talking to this kid about it forever and it’s his fight.
“Listen, you can’t make people fight, if Jon doesn’t want to fight, you can’t make him fight. We can try to make him fight, we can throw things at him that inspire him to want to fight, but we’ll figure it out… I don’t have Ngannou under contract and Aspinall is the guy!”
Asked by a member of the media if he had any interest in trying to get Ngannou back under contract, he shook his head and replied: “Eh, probably not.”