Chael Sonnen has no issue with UFC CEO Dana White leaving Jon Jones off the Freedom 250 card.
Jones had been pounding the table to be featured at the historic White House event. At the same time, “Bones” continued flirting with permanent retirement and a comeback. There’s also Jones’ past legal issues, which left White wary of booking perhaps the greatest MMA fighter of all time for such a show.
In a new video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Sonnen shared his belief that Jones being noncommittal made things difficult for the UFC brass (h/t MMAFighting).
“When we end up in a situation like this with Jon, where he’s in and he’s out,” Sonnen said. “… When you do that, you can’t count on a guy like that. And from what we’ve been told, the entire knock on Jon, and why he didn’t get on the White House card, is because they couldn’t count on him. It’s a very tough spot. It really is. …
“It creates a very unusual and difficult position,” Sonnen added. “Dana White came out and spoke about this, and Dana said, ‘Man, there’s nothing different than it has been the last 10 years. I told Lorenzo [Ferttita] a decade ago we can’t make a business off this guy.’
“You can’t count on him. When he shows up, is it fun? Sure, but you know the result ahead of time. It’s very difficult.”
Jones wasn’t happy with recent comments made by White, and even publicly asked for his UFC release. “Bones” appears to have cooled down a bit, as he was in attendance for UFC 327 this past Saturday. He was inside the Kaseya Center in support of Gable Steveson, who has signed a UFC contract. Jones also claimed the event lit a fire under him in terms of competition.
Do you agree with Dana White’s decision to leave Jon Jones off the UFC Freedom 250 card? Let your voice be heard in the comments below.