The drama between Dana White and Jon Jones rages on for yet another week
The often-troubled UFC light heavyweight champion says he’s willing to stay sidelined for up to three years if he doesn’t get what he feels he deserves financially to return to the octagon.
“I don’t want to fight soon,” Jones said on the “Wild Ride! With Steve-O” podcast. “I have no interest in fighting in the UFC until I get paid what I believe I’m worth.
“If I have to have a bad relationship with Dana [White], sit out for two years, three years, to bring light to what’s happening, then these are the things people remember you for more than winning belts. I stood for the younger fighters.”
Jones has been feuding with UFC boss Dana White that escalated last month when White ripped him at a press conference. Jones would soon ask for his release from his contract.
Jones said he knows of UFC fighters living out of gyms due to low wages, which is part of why he is speaking up now. He has even said he is willing to let his belt become vacant unless he gets what he wants.
Welterweight star Jorge Masvidal is just one of many who have complained about their pay.
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“Yeah I’m gonna fight this year,” Masvidal said on his YouTube channel. “God willing, I’m gonna fight this year. What’s not gonna happen is I’m not gonna be played or underpaid, that’s for sure. I have a value, a formula we’ve come up with for what I’m worth, and that comes off 16 years of doing this, of seeing the field in and out. I’m not some rookie, I’m not some guy challenging for the title for the first time in my life.
“I’ve been in this position before in different organizations and stuff and we know how to calculate what I bring in and I want a fair share of what I bring in. … It’s about how much I want to receive from the pay-per-view, how much share I want from the PPV, that’s one of the many things I’m fighting about. I don’t feel that that cut is fair and I don’t agree with it.”
