UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev took a shot at heavyweight champion and UFC pound-for-pound king Jon Jones at UFC 294 media day. He ridiculed Jones for refusing to fight Chael Sonnen on short notice at UFC 151 in 2012. The Dagestani drew a contrast with him rematching featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski on short notice two days from now and said that is how a champion should conduct themselves.

In response, Jones did not trash-talk Makhachev. Instead, he challenged Makhachev to achieve the level of success he had and match his thirteen title defenses. A reporter asked Makhachev for a response to this at the pre-fight press conference for UFC 294. And, surprisingly, Dana White jumped in to give his opinion.

Dana White defends Islam Makhachev against Jon Jones comments

Islam Makhachev responded with the simple statement that he would break all the records. UFC CEO Dana White also addressed the question. He told the reporter that the sport differed completely from what it was over a decade ago when the UFC 151 fiasco happened. The UFC boss stated that even the coaches today have a different attitude.

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“When you talk about Jon Jones at that time when that happened, that’s the other thing about this sport right now. Not only the fighters are they willing to step up, but the coaches, you know, these guys go to their coaches and their coaching staff says ‘we’re being offered this fight in short notice’. Jon Jones’ coaches told him not to do it. The coaches that are involved in the game today are behind them a hundred per cent saying ‘Yeah, we believe we’re the best in the world. Let’s absolutely take the fight’. So the mentality between the camps, the fighters, everybody right now is completely different than its been in the past,” White said.

The UFC 151 fiasco

The then-light heavyweight champion Jon Jones was supposed to defend his light heavyweight title against Dan Henderson at UFC 151 in 2012. However, the latter had to pull out after he suffered an injury, tearing his MCL while training for the Jones fight. The UFC then offered the fight to Lyoto Machida, who declined. As a last resort, Dana White contacted Chael Sonnen, who agreed. Jones, however, then refused the fight on the advice of his coach, Greg Jackson, according to Dana White.

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This caused the UFC to cancel the whole card. White was furious at the cancellation and revealed that the promotion had lost a lot of money having to cancel the bout eight days before it was supposed to take place on September 1 in Las Vegas. What do you think about Dana White’s comments about Jon Jones? Let us know in the comments section below.

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