Jon Jones relinquishes UFC Light Heavyweight belt over contract disputes

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has evidently relinquished his title after a spat with the promotion’s president Dana White. Jones posted on his Twitter page:

(That’s “I came, I saw, I conquered,” a Latin phrase commonly attributed to Julius Caeser).

Jones suggested a fight between Dominick Reyes and Jan Blachowicz for the vacant light heavyweight belt:

When asked explicitly if this means he is relinquishing his belt, Jones said in no uncertain terms, “Yes.”

Jones and White have been engaged in a back-and-forth verbal war stemming from disagreements in negotiations for a potential superfight between Jones and heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou, with White refusing to budge on Jones’ pay rate. This caused talks to fall apart, with White suggesting that Jones was asking for an “obscene amount of money” to fight the Cameroonian.

White also noted: “He couldn't be asking or a more absurd amount of money at a worse time,” in reference to the UFC losing its gate revenue due to the ongoing COVID-19 containment efforts. Jones dismisses White’s claims, and says he never actually quoted a rate.

Jones left the door open for a comeback, of course, posting “Let me know if you guys want to set up a day in 2021 for that Izzy fight. Hopefully you guys will be willing to pay by then.” So this could all just be a negotiation tactic by one of the UFC’s most valuable PPV stars.