UFC: Jon Jones won’t fight until ‘everyone starts getting paid a little better’

Light heavyweight champ says he’s ‘trying to be a voice for a lot of the younger fighters, help bring awareness to the payment gap’

Jones hands out care packages in Albuquerque with comedian Steve-O as part of community outreach programme in wake of riots

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Jon Jones horses around with Steve-O on the mats at Jackson Wink MMA academy. Photo: Instagram

Published: 12:30pm, 19 Jun 2020Updated: 12:45pm, 19 Jun 2020

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has said he won’t come back to the Octagon until “everyone” in the promotion starts to earn more money.

Jones is at the front of a growing movement campaigning for better fighter pay, but his demands have been shot down by UFC president Dana White.

Jorge Masvidal has also walked away from the negotiating table, while Conor McGregor and former bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo say they have retired from MMA.

“Just kind of holding out to get treated better,” Jones told local station KRQE Sports at the Jackson Wink MMA Academy in Albuquerque.

“The UFC, we’re not known to pay the most to the athletes. I’m trying to be a voice for a lot of the younger fighters, help bring awareness to the payment gap.

“So, I’m going to hold out for as long as possible and not fight at all until everyone in the UFC starts getting paid a little bit better.”

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