UFC president Dana White’s admiration for Jon Jones is no secret and once again, he has taken to social media to reaffirm his love for the fighter. He has become a favored subject of various Internet memes, the most recent of which involves a cleverly edited soundbite with Haliey Welch from the ‘Hawk Tuah’ podcast. The edited soundbite pairs a question from Welch’s podcast with an answer from a separate podcast that White participated in. The result is a humorous exchange where Welch’s question – ‘What is your biggest turn-on?’ is met with White’s response – ‘Jon Jones’.
White, a veteran of the UFC and accustomed to the world of online trolling, handled the situation with grace and a sense of humor. Instead of being upset by the memes, he demonstrated his sporting spirit by tagging ‘Bones’ (Jones) in the meme post. It has been quite clear in recent months that White rates Jones highly, even placing him above Conor McGregor in his list of favorite fighters.
Jones holds a special place in White’s heart that even McGregor, who has contributed significantly to White’s earnings, couldn’t surpass. For White, Jones is not just another fighter—he’s the greatest fighter of all time. White’s firm belief is that as long as Jones remains active in the arena, there is no discussion regarding whether he is the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) or even the best pound-for-pound (P4P) fighter.
White’s praises for Jones seem to invite trolling from fans but the UFC president appears unphased as he continues showering praise on Jones. However, an issue that has displeased White recently made headlines after the UFC 307 event in Salt Lake City, Utah. White was displeased with the performance of Mario Bautista who he felt stalled the fight by repeatedly pushing Aldo against the octagon.
Bautista’s actions at UFC 307 weren’t well received by the fans either—they booed every time he tried to stall the fight, cementing the overall impression that the fight had been a boring one. The issue escalated to the point where White felt the need to address it during the post-fight press-conference. According to White, there should have been much more interference from the referee in such situations.
Expressing his opinion on Bautista’s approach and the lack of intervention by referees, White insisted, ‘I always believe that the referee should intervene, especially when a fighter resorts to stalling tactics repeatedly.’ He was left baffled about how the judges could even score such a fight, where it appeared Bautista was more focused on stalling rather than presenting an engaging fight.
This circumstance which is often labeled under the metrics ‘ground control’ or ‘octagon control’ seemed to perplex White as it generally does not contribute anything positive to the progress of the fight. This adds further confusion to the situation, from White’s perspective, as there is no apparent strategic gain from this kind of control.
Dana White was dissatisfied with what Bautista had presented to the fans, along with the lack of referee’s active intervention in such situations. His comments post the fight highlighted his expectations of a more engaged refereeing role in the future to ensure the quality and fairness of the fights.