Thanks for posting this before I had to. JJ and Zuffa are posturing. JJ knows the only way to get Anderson Silva money is to be a pain like Anderson Silva. JJ has good reason to be annoyed by the fact that the top 2-5 guys rarely fight each other, and instead fight the 5-15 ranked guys until they get a shot at the title but that's not unique to him and is just part of being the champion.This is mostly the usual Zuffa posturing bullshit. They're trying to make Jones look bad publicly because he's on his last contracted fight, meaning it's time to negotiate a new contract. Dana and co are in full on devalue mode with him right now. And JJ is in a pretty strong position to sign a game-changing deal, between being essentially an undefeated champion in their marquee division who has sort of cleaned it out and the way Melendez managed to back down Zuffa for a big contract he feels like he can really get something big out of them. So in part I think he's really just stalling to put Zuffa in a bad position.
Now, obviously, Zuffa brass do not want him setting any kind of precedent. And despite the fact he's crazy entertaining he hasn't been the PPV draw that guys like GSP or Anderson Silva were. So it's a weird situation. He is sort of actively ducking Gus and Cormier, but it doesn't really have anything to do with in-ring things. It sucks for them, but for him it's the smart move. Beating either of them pretty much leaves him exactly where he is right now. He's already beaten everyone and there will always be someone new they can point at. And if he loses he damages his negotiating position significantly.
Think about what he's done. Before him no one defended the LHW belt more than once in like 6 years or some shit. He has defended it 7 times against everyone they could throw at him. And right now they have a full on campaign to make him look like a coward and a chump. With 2 contenders chiming in(probably with some prodding from Dana and Co.) to add legitimacy to the claims.
Anyways, that's my take on what's actually happening. A bunch of posturing. I think we'll see an announcement of the Gus fight the same day a new contract is announced.
I'd rather see JJ fight Cormier next anyway, then the winner fights Gus.