Dana White confirms massive UFC plans with defiant six-word statement shutting down huge fight MMA fans want
DANA WHITE has emphatically shut down Saudi bigwig Turki Alalshikh’s hopes of a cross-promotion fight involving the UFC.
The MMA leader took part in a handful of cross-promotion bouts in their infancy, with Chuck Liddel’s ventures to Japan to compete in Pride being the most memorable.
Saudi bigwig Turki Alalshikh wants to make a crossover fight involving the UFC[/caption]
Alalshikh wants to make a fight between Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones[/caption]
The desire for the UFC to return to their cross-promotion days has been high ever since former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou left the organisation last year and inked a lucrative deal with the PFL.
Fight fans are itching to see Ngannou throw down with his successor at the summit of the division Jon Jones, as is Alalshikh.
During an appearance on The Ariel & Ade Show on DAZN, he said: “I have on the table two options for Francis [Ngannou].
“One in MMA and one in boxing I want to discuss with [him]”.
When pressed for more details on the mixed martial arts option for the Cameroonian, Alalshikh replied: “The MMA, you know, all the time.
“My answer is, we want to do the biggest things… We need to send Dana White to the moon.”
Alalshikh’s comments soon came to the attention of White, who defiantly claimed on Instgram that the promotion are sticking with plans for Jones to face interim heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall.
He wrote: “Not true. Jon vs Tom [is next].”
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A UFC fan quickly responded to the MMA mogul’s comment, saying: “Dana, please put your pride away and make this match-up everyone wanna see this.
White replied: “That’s exactly what I’m doing.”
Former pound-for-pound king Jones was dismissive of a unification fight with Aspinall in the build-up to his UFC 309 clash with Stipe Miocic last month.
But in the aftermath of his stunning third-round TKO victory, he revealed he’d throw down with the burly Brit if he’s paid “f**k you money.”
He said of Aspinall in the post-fight press conference: “He’s annoying to me and that’s my own personal — he annoys me.
“I get to you guys, you find it entertaining, but I find him annoying and I just don’t like him.
“And at the end of the day, if I give him the opportunity to fight me, I want to be so compensated.
“I want to say it, I want that ‘f**k you’ money, honestly. That’s just what it is.”
Tom Aspinall has been chasing a unification fight with Jon Jones for over a year[/caption]
