They all suck. Jones doesn't need to fight anybody. He could retire right now and be the GOAT.
What you should be mad about is the UFC won't strip him and move the division along. They can't come out and publicly say "Jones has been stripped because he wanted too much money" when we see how big Endeavor is getting.
Aspinal fans have the game all wrong. Jones demanding more money means Tom can demand more money as the future champ and star of the division.
Y'all really gonna make this man throw away the whole bag because he can't wait a few months.
Jones is pretty smart if that's a little of his game play. He accepted to fight Ngannou and Ngannou said Jones accepted the contract but that he didn't because he (Ngannou and rightly so) felt they should be way more compensated than that other than money, like, not needing to pay themselves for medical expenses post fights, not being allowed to make money in events that aren't the UFC... Connor got this privilege. Yeah sure he could send a lot of ppv which would make it $ for the UFC anyways. Thing is tho, the fighters are hired to fight.. as Dana conveniently likes to say when it favors him (ppl talk much and don't fight, they're here to fight)... But when a Connor, as a UFC employer who is there to fight, fights way less, takes training way less seriously, and is not nearly as talented as a JJ, who isn't just more talented but had fought and pushed himself way more... Tho he and Ngannou can't do exhibitions, so at the end... Dana is a hypocrite to criticize how nonsensical fights like JP vs Mike are made with lots of money because ppl don't want to see real fights that make sense... While he himself bend over to the influencer generation, which Connor was in part as, since his influence and platform pushed Dana to allow him box Floyd which would be to him "unauthentic"...
... So he is a hypocrite. If he were true a respectable men, he wouldn't criticize nonsensical fights attracting such $ when he allows that when a fighter of his is less committed to the UFC, less talented but has more influence qualities to make Dana's ass stuffed with $, so Chales has to go dumb and say "some fighters are different, they know how to sell themselves, people need to care... Yeah, which also gives those who ppl can relate to opportunities that more talented in fighting fighters won't get... Which is, in a lessen scale, the Jake Paul success. And Connor being the $$ in UFC as far as fighters, but he isn't a free agent, so even tho he makes more than any fighter, that greedy pig will still get the most for him and his people. He said that Ngannou didn't want the contract, and therefore, Dana didn't have to pay him that.
Dana said that was a business and of Francis didn't want to do business with him, then he simply doesn't want to fight. So if it's JJ's plan, realizing the moments in which Ngannou left caused massive criticism, for Dana... And we have Aspinall agreeing that JJ should be paid really high as well... Saying he deserves every cent of it... Plus plus his fear of a severe backlash on him so he he clearly doesn't want to pay that, and we also have Ngannou getting considerable support when saying Dana is the main responsible for that... JJ with his commercials emphasizing the healthcare, citing and proving his reportedly concussions... And then, Dana might feel Aspinall might lose the drive and take a super offer vs Ngannou... As Aspinall, ofc, one of his main goals like most fighters is the money also. So imagine Aspinall just doesn't see with amen event with a HW full of ""bums"", not getting PPV and fighting Ngannou in Saudi instead as a bigger market fight...
Then ppl would rightfully bury Dana in the reviews, and the lawsuit, overall, with more and more fighters showing up with heavy brain fog and confusion, as former UFC's, who many times were indirectly pushed by Dana to do one more match... Comparing it with the payments... And many streams having ppl accessing without paying, basically streams yeah. And now there are actually more stars than before for sure. Not in a way ppl here may think of just "I'm here to fight, no BS, wtv"...
The generation now is made of stars because they have both huge talent coupled with big charisma, exploring very well this social media and engagement from the fans side, like Topuria, Alex Pereira... DDP and Tom Aspinall to an extent too... And if the PPV isn't getting the UFC enough, and the fighters are having way more reach, people start demanding to see them... happily forcing Dana to be way more yes sir form those fighters than normally...
I can see JJ's maybe intentional or unintentional goal as either getting the more than the money Connor got vs Khabib, which he says it's fair if they consider himself as such a fighter of that caliber... In which case I 100% believe he would take the fight and, pretty surely, he'd make a big cash while defeating Tom, an even bigger nightmare as then JJ will retire and Tom will lose the appeal. But also, possibly JJ doesn't seem defeating Tom as worth enough the risk (even if let's say he has as much confidence he will beat Tom as he had when he was about to face Gustafsson 2, with both fighter in the octagon — a feeling of that it would be a tough fight, but that he would very likely be the winner) — the fight doesn't come, also, with a huge $ on top.
Smart play if he avoided all this time to say openly he will beat Tom, as in, if ppl were forcing the payment to see his KO, which likely (imo) he knows he will be the one to finish Tom, possibly making Dana even more anxious and the fans really uhhhhh... In case the money isn't there, the fight won't happen because imo JJ doesn't feel the same wish as when young, when he hadn't the injuries to worry as much as he does now, having also a bigger competitive drive, to win being ok with the $ he'd get. Which he got fed up with tim,e seeing all the unfair treatment many of his accomplishments has had when he made it look easy. Basically, the overall lack of recognition and pleasure in shutting ppl up decreasing to the point it's not big enough to see the fans mad later on (as JJ might be too because he wanted the money with the W and a big plus)... So JJ may be the one to take UFC into deep waters, while using Dana's tactics on coded messages, pressing Dana actually, if feels Dana is the one who is about to fight Tom since "eh do I pay? If he wins and retire it will be a disaster". That's why I think Dana has also been calling JJ the pfp so much, in a way of trying to make ppl accept JJ retiring. Which if they do not, Dana knows a heavy blame and and serious Convo about fights pay may be his demise.
