DANA WHITE has seemingly issued a thinly-veiled ultimatum to Jon Jones over a fight with Tom Aspinall.
The UFC brass are hard at work trying to finalise a historic heavyweight title unification bout between the undisputed and interim champions.
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White was confident late last year that the bout would be made, despite Jones’ demand for “f**k you money“.
But he’s suggested the promotion will contemplate STRIPPING the former pound-for-pound king of the belt if talks drag on until the summer.
When asked if they could consider relieving Jones of the belt, White told The MacLife: “One hundred per cent.
“If we don’t get the fight done, we move on, and we make another fight.
“But not last night, but the night before, I was up in my room with my people until like 6 in the morning.
“We’re working on lots of stuff right now. There’s lots of really good sh*t going on right now.”
White recently shot down talk of Jones demanding a whopping £24.5million to unify the belts against Aspinall.
But he admits the ball is in the promotion’s court to deliver what he believes could be the “biggest fight” in UFC history.
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“There’s no situation,” the veteran promoter said. “It’s the biggest fight we can make.
“I know the fans like to mess with Jon or whatever.
“Jon Jones isn’t afraid of anybody, and Jon Jones will fight anybody.
“It’s just a matter of getting the fight done now. That’s our job.”
White’s comments come just two weeks after an optimistic Aspinall revealed he expects to receive an update on the fight in the coming weeks.
In a video on his YouTube channel, he said: “I’m just waiting at the minute. “
“That’s it, I’m just waiting for his side and the UFC to sort it out.
“I’m just training and getting everything focused to be as fit and ready as I possibly can. Because who knows?
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“They might spring the date on me quick! Or they might say, ‘The date’s going to be in six months.’ I don’t know.
“But that’s always kind of what happens between fights anyway, you never really know when your next one is so I’m just preparing now.
“There’s no dates yet but there’s an opponent there, so we’re just getting fit really, getting the body ready and the mind all in sync towards the next opponent and the next date.
“We’re waiting to find out when that is. I should imagine we’re going to find out in the next couple of weeks so it’s all good.”
Aspinall hasn’t set foot inside the cage since successfully defending the interim 265lbs title against Curtis Blaydes last July.
Jones, meanwhile, recorded a stunning third-round TKO victory over Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 last November.