Jon Jones Denies That Money Issues Delayed His UFC Return

Jon Jones is considered by many fans to be one of the greatest fighters in the history of the UFC. In 2021, Jones announced his intention to return to the octagon and revealed that he has a specific target in mind when it came to his return to MMA. It took him almost two years to finally return to the sport and it seems it had nothing to do with money issues.

Jones has also been on a mission to get the kind of pay that warrants his superstardom. ‘Bones’ had planned on making his return to the UFC last year, but many things delayed his triumphant comeback.

Thankfully, Jon Jones is now set to face Ciryl Gane for the now-vacant UFC heavyweight title at UFC 285 in March. The fight announcement was followed by the news that Jon Jones signed an eight-fight deal with the UFC.

While speaking to ESPN, the No.10-ranked pound-for-pound fighter stated that money was not what caused his delay in making his return to the world of MMA.

“The prolonging of my heavyweight debut had nothing to do with money or being upset with the UFC or anything like that. I just wanted to be at my best when I did come back. I felt like I was ready to go about a year ago. We needed to figure out opponents and there was just a lot of moving parts in the UFC, but now we’re here. We got Ciryl Gane, and I feel like all the stars are just aligned for me right now.

I started thinking about it the day that I decided that I was going to go up to heavyweight. My goal for three years now is to become the heavyweight champion of the world. It’s what I pray about, it’s what I sleep on, it’s what I dream about. It is who I am and I will get it done… I just feel it in my whole being that I’m the best fighter on the planet.”

Jones also recently looked very sharp in a training video, ahead of his upcoming fight. Now it remains to be seen whether ‘Bones’ will be able to come out on top in his upcoming fight.

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