Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Okay, so, after UFC 173 Dana White claimed that Jon Jones and the UFC were in contract negotiations, but now he’s insisting that it doesn’t mean that Jon Jones is in need of a new contract, but instead that Jon Jones needs to sign a bout agreement for the Alexander Gustafsson fight. Confused yet? We all are. Fans have been taking the side of the UFC in this matter and claiming that the champion has been ducking Gustafsson.
Dana White is even saying that Jon Jones wants to fight Daniel Cormier instead, in what feels like negotiation tactics. Weird, right? [source]
“Just to clear up a couple things, people think we’re in contract negotiations with Jon Jones – we’re not,” White told UFC.com. “Jon Jones still has five fights left on his contract. So what we’re doing right now is trying to get him to sign the bout agreement for Gustafsson. He doesn’t want to fight Gustafsson. … Lorenzo and I have a meeting with Jones on Thursday to get him to sign the bout agreement, and he’s asking to fight Cormier instead.”