Topics: UFC, Jon Jones, Dana White, Tom Aspinall, MMA
UFC boss Dana White has addressed the criminal allegations against Jon Jones that emerged following his retirement phone call.
After seven months of inactivity following his only heavyweight title defence, UFC president and CEO White revealed that Jones had officially retired from the organisation during a press conference on Saturday night.
The heavyweight champion had long been rumoured to be considering a fight with interim champion Tom Aspinall, but ultimately decided against doing so, much to the frustration of fans.
Since Jones' decision was announced, reports emerged that he had a pending charge in Albuquerque, New Mexico, accusing him of fleeing the scene of a car accident and leaving a half-naked female passenger at the crash.
Advert
And now, White has spoken out to address the allegations and those that have claimed that they may have influence Jones' decision to hang up the gloves.
According to a report from Alberquerque Journal, the woman found at the crash was clearly intoxicated and claimed that Jones was the driver, but had fled the scene on foot.
She reportedly then phoned Jones, who spoke with a police service officer, allegedly making 'allusions to violence' but never answered directly when asked to identify himself.
But when asked if he had seen the allegations, White appeared to play down the role they may have played in Jones' decision.
Speaking to TheMacLife, the UFC boss said: "I saw it today, and when I saw it, I know everybody is going to think this is why he retired, and maybe that is why he retired, who the hell knows, these are all questions you gotta ask him.”
White then claimed that the much-anticipated fight between Jones and Aspinall was 'done' until the heavyweight champion suddenly decided to phone the UFC to tell them that he had decided to retire.
In another interview with Bloody Elbow, White revealed some of the details of this phone call, explaiing that Jones had suddenly called the UFC boss while he wasn't Azerbaijan for last weekend's event in Baku.
“He called us and just started saying ‘you know what, I think I’m done, I want to retire, it’s been a great run and I appreciate everything,'” White said of the call.
“That was it and he was absolutely positively sure that he wanted to retire.
“We said ‘why don’t you sleep on it and when you wake up in the morning if that’s how you still feel then.
“Then you wake up the next day and [he’s facing legal issues] so who knows? We don’t know everything that went into this decision.
“It’s something you’re going to have to ask him if you ever see him again but I don’t know the answer to these questions. All I know is that he made it very clear that he wanted to retire and I don’t disagree with him.”
