Chael Sonnen has taken aim at Jon Jones after the UFC heavyweight champion publicly reversed his retirement stance on back-to-back days, drawing a pointed response from UFC CEO Dana White.
At the UFC 327 post-fight news conference, White was asked about Jones in the wake of the confusion and replied, "How is that any different than Jon's been in the last 10 years?"
Sonnen laid out the sequence of events, noting the implications of Jones’ public statements. "Jon Jones publicly retired on Friday, which is enough, per the rules, to have yourself removed from the testing pool," Sonnen said. "Jon Jones on Saturday came back and said he is not officially retired, which, per the rules, is enough to reinsert yourself into the testing pool. Now, no, none of that stuff is happening, and it's all very silly."
Sonnen then questioned what Jones’ flip-flop means for his reputation. "But there is a question: If you're the baddest dude in the world, and you're going to be the world champion, you've got to be a man. And nobody's going to mistake you for a man, let alone the man, if they can't trust you. When you put out a statement on Friday and the exact opposite statement on Saturday, there is a simple question, and it's not whether you're retired or not or if you're going to fight again. It's simply, what good is your word?"
White also denied that Jones was ever in consideration for UFC Freedom 250 on June 14, while Jones has claimed he received an offer to fight Alex Pereira and felt low-balled by it.
