In his one-hour interview with Ariel Helwani at MMAFighting.com, former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones reveals details on his with UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta and UFC President Dana White after the hit and run incident.
According to Jones, he thinks if he had told them that he would go through with the UFC 187 fight against Anthony “Rumble” Johnson that they wouldn’t have suspended him and stripped him of the title belt.
“They had never come to see me before. First time they came to Albuquerque to visit me was to take my belt away,” Jones said. “Honestly, Lorenzo seemed like he really did care. Lorenzo seemed very genuine. He looked me in the eyes the whole time and was like, ‘how are you doing?’ At the time I didn’t know how I was feeling, I was all over the place emotionally. At the end of the day, it was still a business meeting – one that definitely wasn’t in my favor.
“They asked me how I was feeling, and I told them I didn’t want to fight. I do feel if I was ready to fight; I wouldn’t have gotten suspended, and my belt stripped away. I didn’t fight for it. I have nothing to prove, that belt doesn’t solidify who I am as a fighter. I needed the break, man. The pressure that I put on myself and the level I was fighting at … to get away from that belt for awhile really set me free. Today I feel great.”
Anthony Johnson would go on to lose to Daniel Cormier in a fight for the vacant UFC light heavyweight championship, earning Cormier the title.
Jones and Cormier are expected to have a fight in 2016, which Cormier says will draw over 1 million pay-per-view buys.
Related: Jon Jones To Daniel Cormier: “You On Your Way, P*ssy?”
