Dana White maintains that Jon Jones didn’t duck a fight with Tom Aspinall.
Talks for a unification bout between the two UFC heavyweight champions have been ongoing all year.
Jon Jones repeatedly distanced himself from the matchup before announcing his retirement on Saturday.
As a result, Tom Aspinall has been elevated to undisputed status, and some fans have been calling the greatest fighter in MMA history a ‘duck’.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLCDana White names only fighter Jon Jones ducked
On Sunday, the UFC CEO spoke with Bloody Elbow and other media at the Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford press conference in New York.
White insisted that the only time Jones ducked a fight was when he refused to face Chael Sonnen on late notice, which resulted in UFC 151 becoming the first event cancelled by MMA’s premier promotion in September 2012.
“No,” White said when asked if Jones had ducked Aspinall by retiring.
“Jon Jones, I’ve said it a million times, I’ll say it again, he’s never ducked anybody.
“Other than that one goofy time with the Chael Sonnen thing. Never ducked anybody.
“Whatever changed his mind with this matchup, I don’t know, you’ll have to ask him that. But he’s [about to be] 38 years old. I don’t know.”
Jon Jones recalls angering Dana White with UFC 151 refusal
A few days before retiring, Jones recalled his biggest bust-up with White.
“UFC 151, me refusing to fight Chael Sonnen,” he said.
“Man, he just didn’t see the logic in it.
“When you’re not the one in there creating the art, then it’s easy to say how it is to create the art.
“I respect the process, and I have to show respect in the way that I do things.
“Yeah, that p—ed him off though.”