Jon Jones tells Dana White ‘don’t be a f—king liar,’ asks for UFC release in fiery rant

That escalated quickly.

The war of words between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou has become a negotiating war between Jones and UFC president Dana White.

Jones has expressed interest in moving up to heavyweight to take on the fearsome knockout artist, in what would be a monumental clash even without a UFC title at stake. However, the reigning light heavyweight champion said that the promotion was unwilling to pay more for the potential showdown.

White responded by saying that Jones asked for an “absurd amount of money,” which Jones countered by calling those claims “absolute bullsh-t.” Dana went a step further on Friday and said that Jones wanted “what Deontay Wilder was paid [to fight Tyson Fury in February]. I think it was $30 million.”

(For the record, Wilder’s reported guarantee was $25 million + PPV points for the Fury rematch, but his official purse on the Nevada Athletic Commission paysheet was $5 million.)

Jones has fired back in a big way on Twitter, first doubling down by saying that White is the one who’s lying, then also denying that he ever asked for Wilder-type money.

Side note, definitely calling Deontay Wilder “Diante” henceforth.

Then Jones upped the ante by outright suggesting that if the UFC doesn’t value him properly, then they should just release him outright and let him move onto another promotion.

Chances are that we’ve not seen the end to this back-and-forth exchange.