White: Young fight stars can break Jones way or Rousey way
Dana White: “You either have the people that go the route of a Ronda Rousey or the people that have gone Jon Jones’ (route).”
UFC president Dana White appeared recently on TSN’s ‘Off the Record’ with Michael Landsberg, and discussed the pressures of being a UFC star, and the separate roads taken by UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, and former UFC light heavyweight champion Ronda Rousey.
“I said a long time ago: Whenever somebody wins the belt at such a young age and the money and the fame that goes along with it, it’s going to be a tough ride,” said White as transcribed by David St. Martin for MMAFighting.com.
“You either have the people that go the route of a Ronda Rousey or the people that have gone Jon Jones’. I’d say more people have gone Jon Jones’ route than the Ronda Rousey route.”
“It’s tough. It is what it is. This guy’s got to figure out his legal situation, get all his stuff handled and then decide whether he wants to fight again.”
“His mindset is that he needs to handle this legal situation. He did a hit and run. He hit a pregnant lady, she broke her arm and now he’s facing a civil suit and he’s facing the charges for the hit and run so that’s what he’s focused on now. That’s what he needs to be focused on right now. When he gets past this he can decide if he wants to fight again.”
Asked if Jones was caught off guard by the UFC’s move to strip him of his title, White said the decision surprised everyone.
“I don’t think anyone saw that coming,” White said. “The fans, the media and probably even Jon Jones.”