Dana White On When Jon Jones Will Return To The UFC: ‘He’ll Be Back In The Summer’
Last week, the now former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones opened up about his recent issues that have plagued his mixed martial arts career on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. He claimed that he would get “blackout drunk” leading up to his fights, and he talked about his disappointment with how he handled the hit-and-run that he was involved with last year.
Towards the end of the Rogan podcast, Jones said that his one-year suspension, which was recently handed to him by USADA following a drug test failure, ends in July, and that he hopes to be back inside the Octagon as soon as his suspension comes to an end.
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On Tuesday, UFC president Dana White appeared on the UFC Unfiltered podcast with ex-welterweight champion Matt Serra, and comedian Jim Norton, where he reacted to Jones’ appearance on Rogan’s podcast, and he said that he’d like to get the former UFC champion fighting again next summer. So, it looks like Jones and the UFC president are on the same page.
“Yeah, Jon… I’m gonna tell you this, I heard stories, I never knew first hand while he was fighting, but I heard stories that people would see him out partying and stuff like that, and I’d be like ‘come on, the guy couldn’t be.’ You don’t fight at this level, and Jon Jones is so good, there’s no way in hell that could be true. But, apparently it was.”
“Yeah, I don’t know how this whole thing is gonna play out, but he’ll definitely be back this summer.”
During his recent appearance on the Jim Rome Show, the UFC president said that he would “never take the risk of headlining a show with Jon Jones.” Of course, Jones has been a headliner for the majority of his career, but, he’s been pulled from several main events because of issues in his personal life, so White feels uncomfortable with building a show around Jon Jones.
When Jones heard White’s comments, he responded by saying “I don’t think he thought that through before saying it. I’m sure he didn’t mean it.” So, Jones obviously doesn’t buy what the UFC president said.
Currently, the light heavyweight division is being built around two men: the champion Daniel Cormier, and the number one contender Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. The two were originally supposed to fight at this coming weekend’s UFC show, but the champ suffered an injury which forced him out of the fight.
Lodge #News:Jon Jones — Hit With 1 Year Ban … For Failed Drug Test
Jon Jones won't be stepping into the Octa https://t.co/TBp8LArFgK
— LODGE THE CRYPTO VET (@LodgeXLodge) November 27, 2016
It’s extremely possible that Cormier will defend his title against Johnson at some point before Jones is cleared to return, and the winner of that fight will presumably fight Jones in July, unless the former champ wants a “tune up” fight first.
Other than Cormier and Johnson, there really isn’t anyone left at light heavyweight for Jones to fight, as he’s pretty much cleared out the entire division. During the Rogan podcast, he seemed pretty content with staying at light heavyweight though, and he made it pretty clear that he’s waiting for “the right opponent” to emerge before he makes the move to heavyweight.
Jones also said that he’d be more interested in moving up a weight class if the UFC added a 225-pound division because he feels like most of the heavyweights in the company are way too big for him. But, he did say that he will move up to heavyweight at some point.
It’ll be interesting to see how the UFC handles Jon Jones upon his return. Will they book him in a main event right off the bat? Will he get a title shot immediately? We’ll have to wait and see, but at some point, he will be back in the light heavyweight title picture.
[Featured Image by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images]
