Dana White doubles down, says Jon Jones asked for “obscene” sum for Ngannou fight

Dana White isn’t backing down on his claim that Jon Jones overreached in the negotiations for a potential fight with Francis Ngannou.

A heavyweight scrap between Jones, the UFC light heavyweight champ, and Ngannou, the heavyweight division’s top contender, was dominating the headlines earlier this month. Regrettably, the negotiations for the bout fizzled out. According to White, that’s because Jones asked for an “absurd” amount of money.

“For the amount of money [Jon Jones is] asking for, it’s not gonna happen. You couldn’t be asking for a more absurd amount of money at a worse time.”@danawhite on why Jones vs. Ngannou won’t happen right now (via @bokamotoESPN) pic.twitter.com/JrNewyK4d3

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 28, 2020

Shortly after White claimed that Jones’ demands were too high, Jones took to Twitter to accuse the UFC boss of lying.

It’s interesting to just sit here and watch your boss lie to the camera like this. We never discussed any increase in pay. Immediately the conversation was that I already made enough. I never made a number offer. https://t.co/YYx4FMHeIs

— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) May 29, 2020

If you’re not going to change my contract for the heavyweight move, at least have the decency to be honest with the fans.

— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) May 29, 2020

I was over the situation, but I’m not gonna sit back and allow Dana to lie to the fans. I never asked for an absurd amount of money. That’s bullshit

— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) May 29, 2020

“It’s interesting to just sit here and watch your boss lie to the camera like this,” Jones wrote in response to White on Twitter. “We never discussed any increase in pay. Immediately the conversation was that I already made enough. I never made a number offer.

“If you’re not going to change my contract for the heavyweight move, at least have the decency to be honest with the fans,” Jones added in a followup Tweet.

“I was over the situation, but I’m not gonna sit back and allow Dana to lie to the fans. I never asked for an absurd amount of money. That’s bullshit”

Despite these comments from Jones, White recently doubled-down on his accusation that Jones priced himself out of accusations for the Ngannou fight.

Dana White on First Take (@FirstTake) this morning: Let me just put it this way. Jon Jones wasn’t asking for $5 million more dollars; he was asking for an obscene amount of money. And if Jon Jones wants to speak publicly and say what the number was, that’s up to him.

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) May 29, 2020

“Let me just put it this way,” White said on ESPN’s First Take on Friday morning. “Jon Jones wasn’t asking for $5 million more dollars; he was asking for an obscene amount of money. And if Jon Jones wants to speak publicly and say what the number was, that’s up to him.”

Suffice it to say that Dana White and Jon Jones are not seeing eye-to-eye on this one. How do you think the light heavyweight champ will respond?