UFC president Dana White believes Tyson Fury and Jon Jones should settle their differences in the Octagon rather than engage in an online war of words.
“If Tyson Fury really wants to fight Jon Jones in the UFC, I will make it happen,” White declared to BroBible (h/t MMA Fighting’s Alexander K. Lee). “Here’s my thing right now to Tyson Fury: Tyson, if you’re serious, let me know. Tyson and I have a good relationship. I like Tyson Fury.”
Should Fury and Jones ever face each other, White made it clear who he would favor.
“Jon Jones is the baddest dude on the planet,” White said. “There’s no debate, there’s no denying it. There’s no debate. I don’t care what anybody says, everybody can try to spin it. A lot of this stuff is clickbait.”
A recent back-and-forth was sparked when UFC commentator Joe Rogan said “No one believes Tyson Fury could beat Jon Jones in a fight,” which drew a fiery response from Fury:
“I heard Joe Rogan say something about me, and I’ve been off all the social media and didn’t reply to that little p—y, little f–king midget, bald-headed midget. I heard him say that Jon Jones could f–k me up if we were in the room together. I don’t think so. Not a man born from a mother could f–k me up, in a room, on our own. Whatever happens in that room, I’d be walking out. Not a f–king problem.”
In response to Fury’s rant, Jones challenged him to compete in my cage, saying, “I’ll admit there’s no one touching you in that ring right now, but let’s not let that confuse you with what would happen if you stepped foot in my cage. If you ever want to put some of those questions you got going on to rest, give Dana a call. I’ll help you out.”
Jones saw Fury’s challenge to a boxing match as a retreat from his previous position.
“Yesterday, Tyson says, ‘no man born from a mother can beat me,’ today he says ‘Jon can never beat me in a boxing ring.’ Yeah I’m glad we got that clarified,” Jones said.
Fans of combat sports may find the brouhaha between Jones and Fury entertaining, but a fight between the two is unlikely. Jones is expected to defend his title against former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic sometime this year.
Despite being without an opponent at the moment, Fury is pursuing a unification match against Oleksandr Usyk, who holds the WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring heavyweight titles. Despite Francis Ngannou’s recent new deal with the PFL that allows him to pursue high-profile fights in boxing, there has been mutual interest between him and former UFC champion Francis Ngannou in a potential boxing match.
