LAS VEGAS – UFC CEO Dana White has vehemently defended two topics perhaps greater than any others over the past yr. The primary, is who the pound-for-pound best fighter is immediately. The second is that his answer to that query, Jon Jones, who he thinks should rightfully fight Stipe Miocic next.
Following Dana White’s Contender Series 69 on Tuesday on the UFC Apex, White engaged with reporters in a lengthy, back-and-forth discussion.
The talk was respectful but passionate, as White verbally traded with media members, mainly veteran reporters Kevin Iole and John Morgan.
PASADENA, CA – JANUARY 09: TUF Coach, Jon Jones (L) and Dana White, UFC President/UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, of the tv show “The Ultimate Fighter” speak in the course of the FX Networks portion of the 2013 Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour on the Langham Hotel and Spa on January 9, 2013 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Jones as pound-for-pound No. 1
The 12-plus-minute exchange began as White was about to wrap his post-event news conference. He was jokingly asked about Jones’ status because the “pound-for-pound GOAT.”
The argument is one which White has repeated his stance on increasingly in recent weeks. The frequency and enthusiasm has amused online commenters and meme-creators.
Iole asked, “Does he have pictures of you?” to which laughs got here.
“Are you guys that f*cking silly?” White laughed back. “You possibly can’t be that f*cking silly to think that Jon Jones is just not the pound-for-pound best fighter on the planet and the GOAT… but perhaps you might be?”
White stood up to go away but then sat back down to interact. Eleven more minutes of debate took place thereafter.
“Inquire from me,” White said. “Who’s higher than Jon Jones? Who’s pound-for pound higher than Jon Jones?”
Morgan jumped in and answered, “At what point does inactivity come into play, right? All of us agree there’s no person higher than Jon Jones. He’s the best of all time. There’s no doubt about it. But in some unspecified time in the future, whenever you’re rankings, they do must represent what’s happening within the organization at that moment, right at the moment, and up to now three years, he’s had one fight.”
White’s answer to that query revolved across the inactivity not being a selection, but slightly an injury, which Jones (27-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC) suffered weeks before an initial booking with Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) scheduled for November 2023. Jones was out of motion for 3 years when he returned to win heavyweight gold vs. Ciryl Gane in March 2023, and he hasn’t fought since. Meanwhile, Tom Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) has develop into interim heavyweight champion, even scoring a rare defense of that interim belt against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in July.
“You discuss inactivity and that he’s only fought one time. Jon Jones was presupposed to fight,” White said. “If Jon Jones was sitting on the couch saying, ‘I don’t know after I’m going to fight again,’ then he’s definitely not within the pound-for-pound discussion immediately. He was scheduled to fight and he got injured. He’s an energetic fighter.”
White then brought up Islam Makhachev, the fighter many media members and fans think deserves the pound-for-pound designation. Makhachev (26-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC) has defended the UFC lightweight title 3 times, though two of those were against then-featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, and one was a highly-debated decision. He’s currently ranked No. 1 within the UFC’s official pound-for-pound rankings.
“Islam, many individuals consider, lost to the guy (Volkanovski) who’s a weight class below him,” White said. “Is that how pound-for-pound works?”
Jones vs. Stipe
White and Iole then went back-and-forth in regards to the definition of “energetic” before the conversation pivoted to the booking between Jones and Miocic.
“Everyone on this room thinks Aspinall is more highly-rated than Stipe, at this point,” Iole said. “Stipe’s status is improbable but he has not won a fight since he beat (Daniel Cormier) – in 4 years. That also plays into it as partially an element when you will have a man like Aspinall knocking out Serghei Pavlovich in lower than a minute, Curtis Blaydes in lower than a minute, etc., etc.”
White said he didn’t disagree, but offered up a special stance and laid out an argument that’s crux was not wanting to disrespect Miocic, who missed out on the Jones fight in late 2023 not due to his own doing.
“Here’s the flip side to that,” White said. “What do I do? The guy who’s checked out as the best heavyweight within the UFC, right? This fight’s arrange. Jon Jones gets hurt. It’s not his fault. He has to attend and return into training camp again. He was training. So do I just yank it away from Stipe and say, ‘Hey, go f*ck yourself and sit on the sidelines for 2 more years’? If I did that you just guys can be like, ‘Oh, you f*cking disrespected the best heavyweight ever,’ so would the f*cking fans. So I should just sh*t on Stipe because Jon got hurt, and never make the fight that he was already presupposed to fight?’”
Iole rebutted that Miocic should’ve fought Aspinall in Jones’ absence, slightly than sit and wait for the champion.
“That is the fight (Jones and Miocic) each want,” White said. “What do you do? You don’t show the fellows their respect. I guarantee you this, if Stipe wins, Stipe goes to retire. This will likely be Stipe’s last fight. Are you the media telling me I should just tell Stipe to f*ck 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? Or do I show this guy the respect that I should show him and provides them each the fight that they need? That’s the position I’m in.”
Unsurprisingly, no agreement was reached. White, with a smile, declared Jones’ status because the pound-for-pound best fighter once last time before he departed the table and was replaced by beaming UFC contract-earner Malcolm Wellmaker.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 04: Jon Jones looks on in the course of the UFC heavyweight championship fight against Ciryl Gane of France in the course of the UFC 285 event at T-Mobile Arena on March 04, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
What’s next
Jones and Miocic are “targeted” to fight at UFC 309, an event Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in Latest York, White confirmed Tuesday. White said the shortage of formal announcement by the promotion is attributable to its calendar not being filled out until that time.
Aspinall, the promotion’s interim titleholder, defended that championship at UFC 304 in July when he knocked out Curtis Blaydes. It’s unclear what his next competitive move is, though he’s upped his callouts of Jones in recent weeks, even creating skit videos in an try and angle for the fight.
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