Jon Jones is one of the few UFC fighters with any real pull within the company and for the second time of note he is using that to his advantage (and enraging UFC President Dana White in the process). Jones currently refuses to sign a fight contract to rematch Alex Gustafsson. The UFC has tried on multiple occasions to 'announce' the fight in order to pressure Jones to sign. Jones will not be swayed. The UFC is hoping that Jones will sign to fight Gusto at UFC 177 on August 30th in Las Vegas. When asked, White confirmed that Jones would not sign the bout agreement and wouldn't get into details as to why. The popular opinion at this time is that Jones is holding out for a new UFC contract. Jones drew the UFC's ire in 2012 when he refused to take a short notice fight against Chael Sonnen at UFC 155. White called the move 'the biggest mistake of [Jones'] career' but in hindsight the missed fight seems unimportant. Light heavyweight contender Daniel Cormier has offered to fight Gusto in Jones' place if an agreement cannot be reached.
Re: Jon Jones is holding the UFC hostage (again) If Jones wants to play hardball, he will eventually lose. DFW will not hesitate to strip him of his title. He is an employee and needs to fight. Personally, I think Jones is hesitant to fight because he got his ass kicked. His next two opponents have great chances to beat him.
Re: Jon Jones is holding the UFC hostage (again) Is he an employee? Because sometimes these guys don't get treated that way. Sometimes they are treated like independent contractors. Renegotiating a contract in good faith isn't unreasonable if one party feels the original framework of the deal has been outgrown. I honestly don't think Jones has any fears about fighting Gusto or DC and he has every right to flex his muscle given the way the UFC has been treating it's fighters for the last two or so years.
Re: Jon Jones is holding the UFC hostage (again) I suspect this is all about the $$$ - which makes it real hard for me to show a lot of belief or sympathy for DFW's complaining.
Re: Jon Jones is holding the UFC hostage (again) He is the champ, fight the best man available... He should have ZERO input on who he fights, the promotion should always decide IMO.
Re: Update: Jon Jones won't fight Gusto, will fight DC The latest is that JJ won't fight Gusto but will fight DC. I don't know what to make of any of this. Gusto is perhaps the easier fight for him?
Re: Update: Jon Jones won't fight Gusto, will fight DC; DFW says Gusto is next Dana says Gustafsson is next for Jones.
Re: Update: Jon Jones won't fight Gusto, will fight DC; DFW says Gusto is next Fight set for Sept. 27th in Toronto. UFC 178. Will you be attending speeds? Pulling for Gus hardcore.
Possibly. I have a wedding to go to in September in Toronto. It might coincide with that weekend. We'll see. Good to see that the UFC can still put together the fights the fans want to see.
I really don't think it was any way out of this fight for Jones. Now, is his story true? He's claiming he wanted a later date because of his brothers wedding in July...who knows, maybe that's him saving face and spinning it like he never wanted to rematch Gus. Only Jones, Lorenzo, and Dana know that. But from everything that was reported, DFW and the UFC have all the power and it was Gus or bust for Jones.