Jon Jones vacates UFC light-heavyweight belt in salary row… but hints at heavyweight return after calling out Miocic
JON JONES has officially vacated the UFC light heavyweight title after failing to reach a salary agreement with Dana White.
The 33-year-old has been rowing for months with the UFC president over his pay and had further talks with him on Monday.
Now Bones has revealed that a compromise could not be reached and he is giving up the title he has held since 2016.
The 20-1 star said: “Just got off the phone with @ufc, today I confirm that I’m vacating the light heavyweight championship.
“It’s officially up for grabs. It’s been an amazing journey, sincere thank you to all my competition, UFC and most importantly you fans.”
Jones, who last competed at UFC 247 in February when he earned a controversial decision win over Dominick Reyes, does still harbour hopes of moving up to heavyweight after calling out Stipe Miocic on Sunday.
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And he says he will remain in UFC’s testing pool and still be training for the next couple of months just in case White ups his offer.
He added: “The last I spoke with @UFC about my salary there was no negotiating. If that ever changes, i’d love to come back and compete again as a heavyweight.
“Until then, I’ll be enjoying Ufc has a fan and doing my best to take care of my family and community.
“In good faith I will be staying in the testing pool for probably the next half year or so.
“I’ll continue to lift weights and train all the different martial arts.”
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Jones believes he deserves more money for moving up a division, while White refused to budge.
Bones threatened to walk away from UFC if he did not receive what he felt he deserved, leading to his latest announcement.
Following Miocic’s successful title defence against Daniel Cormier on Saturday, Jones again expressed interest in making the switch to heavyweight to challenge the champ.
He leaves UFC with 14 title fight wins to his name – the most in the promotion’s history.