Dana White admits he hasn’t talked to Jon Jones since UFC 200

Dana White hasn’t spoken to Jon Jones in quite some time.

The UFC president revealed to ESPN on Monday that he hasn’t had any conversations with Jones since Jones’ infamous withdrawal from his UFC 200 main event title bout with Daniel Cormier last July. Despite appearing to not have much of a relationship with Jones – who returns from his one-year USADA suspension to face Cormier at this weekend’s UFC 214 in Anaheim, Calif. – White was still complimentary of the former champ in the interview with ESPN.

“Jon Jones and I still haven’t talked since the last time he pulled out of UFC 200,” White said. “But he’s getting the opportunity right now to come back and face Daniel Cormier, without a doubt two of the best light heavyweights ever, both of these guys.

“Jone Jones has obviously had the potential to be the greatest of all-time, I mean, this guy still hasn’t lost a fight. If you look at his record, you know, there is a one there but that is because a referee that shouldn’t have been reffing, a guy who completely screwed up Jon Jones’ record, so this is Jon Jones’ chance to come back and stay undefeated.”

When asked why hasn’t he spoken to Jones in a year, White said that it was because of the UFC 200 fiasco, as you may imagine, and insisted that he doesn’t need to talk to Jones in order for him to be competing in the UFC.

“I wasn’t happy with him and what happened with him falling out of UFC 200,” White explained. “I feel like we’ve been there for the guy every time he’s had a problem, and for him to do that at UFC 200, I was just... I was not happy. But we don’t have to talk for him to come back and do what he’s going to try to do on Saturday night, we don’t have to talk. I’m not mad at him anymore like I was before, but we’ll see how this thing plays out. I mean, if he doesn’t show up for this one, that’s going be whole other ball game, but I’m cool with Jon Jones right now.”