Efter att UFC 151 ställts in så knakade det lite i fogarna mellan UFCs titelmästare Jon Jones och UFCs VD Dana White. White lämnade hela ansvaret på att UFC 151 ställdes in på Jones och hans träningsstab för att de inte accepterade en ny motståndare och således ställde in galan. Jones har i efterhand förklarat att han inte kände till att galan skulle ställas in på grund av hans val, medan White förklarade för pressen att han var fullt medveten om vad som skulle hända.
Men Jones var tillbaka i oktagonen på UFC 152 i helgen då han försvarade sitt lätt tungviktsbälte för en fjärde gång mot motståndaren Vitor Belfort. Men innan dess så möttes Jones och White upp för att diskutera vad som hänt under de senaste veckorna, och det hela ser ut att ha slutat bra.
”Jon’s made some mistakes,” säger White i presskonferensen efter UFC 152. ”He’s going to be around for a long time. He’s not going anywhere unless he does it to himself. I think as Jon continues to win more fights, continues to feel more comfortable with that belt and in his skin right now — with who he he really is — I think he’ll be better all around — publicly, his image, fighting. There are times when he just doesn’t feel comfortable with who he is, which is kind of weird. He’s a great fighter and he really is a good guy. We had a great talk yesterday. I’m not going to talk about anything we talked about yesterday. We both kind of shook hands as men and made a couple of agreements together that I will keep. Hopefully, he’ll keep his and we’ll have a great relationship.”
Jones förklarar läget på ungefär samma sätt som White gjorde
”I think me an Dana are forever going to be a lot closer,” säger Jones i Fuel TVs eftersändningar när UFC 152 tagit slut. ”We really got to talk to each other on a level of just two grown men, not a boss and an athlete. It was more about two adults, talking like adults. I got to express to him how I felt about what he said, he got to put me in his shoes and put me where he was at as the president of an organization. He really explained to me about the loss that he suffered. Neither one of us was necessarily apologetic about anything. We just came to a great understanding. He understands now who I am as a person and as an athlete and I understand who he is as the CEO of this company. I think we left with a mutual respect for one another and we’ll have a much stronger relationship in the future.”
