Jon Jones Clears Stance on ‘Retirement’ Amidst Tom Aspinall Fight Discussions

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones continues to mull a heavyweight belt PPV unification showdown vs. Tom Aspinall.

Jon Jones Clears Stance on ‘Retirement’ Amidst Tom Aspinall Fight Discussions

Jon Jones shares latest UFC retirement update away from Tom Aspinall fight (Source: IMAGO/X)

In some divisions, the undisputed strap changed hands X2 or exponentially more times than Jon Jones has brought up a PPV title unifier vs. Tom Aspinall. Jones is still eyeing a timely legacy retirement at the top of the sport. Months after beginning PPV title negotiations to fight the interim belt holder, there is very little change. However, Jones recently cleared up some thoughts on being “done” with the sport.

After his rare UFC 304 title defense and first-round TKO of Curtis Blaydes last July, Tom Aspinall is now the longest-reigning interim champ. With the ungodly number of days past, a Jon Jones fight is nowhere near.

Despite talks of a six-month camp and proper fighter compensation, a FaceTime chat with Kamil Gadzhiyev during Thailand’s ALF Reality revealed Jones might be ‘done’ for the long haul. Now, ‘Bones’ gives his side of the story on X (@JonnyBones):

I don’t know if I wanna call it retired, I feel like I’ll always have an ability to pop out and show em. I’ve had many breaks throughout my career, my identity outside of fighting is well intact. I’m genuinely enjoying life, I’m growing in different ways.

Other than friend and staunch supporter Aljamain Sterling, Jon Jones is one of the few to keep a purport of an active dialogue with fans. The whole week, the fighter has teased enjoying life in Thailand and not “ducking.” However, fans were quick to tear him down, saying he does not need that ‘Tom Aspinall’ heat. Per statleaders.ufc.com (UFC Record books), the 32-year-old is indomitable with the least bottom position averaged, and quite a few first-frame KOs.

However, Jones presented that he really is just enjoying life, and is in a safe place to hang it up whenever, as the consensus best in the sport. He also mentioned growing, outside, in life. Some fan following ripped him a new reminding him of his horrendous past, DUIs, run-ins, and the likes. However, nothing has yet convinced ‘Bones’ to conform to a PPV title unification. Subsequently, there’s no sign that something ever will.

The anti-Jon Jones case: When UFC brass stripped champs for refusing the #1 contender scraps in back-to-back years

With Ilia Topuria relinquishing his 145-pound stakes for a move up, rival Islam Makhachev plated a doozy and moved up himself. The longtime lightweight king is now set to realize his dream at welterweight. The Dagestani is up for a PPV title scrapper right off the bat sometime later this year, given his momentum as the #1 pound-for-pound fighter. However, there were talks of stripping Makhachev that set off references to Jon Jones’ preferential treatment.

Not everyone got that Jon Jones luck
Not everyone got that Jon Jones luck (Source: X)

It’s been a large gap since November of 2023, with no PPV unification in sight. Given all that, here is a look back at what was the opposite of the ‘Jon Jones’ not fighting Tom Aspinall scenario. Twice, the UFC brass forced the hand of champs for not fighting the top seed for undisputed gold.

Inaugural WMMA featherweight champ (UFC 208) Germaine de Randamie got slated for her role after an UD win over Holly Holm. At the time, Cris Cyborg was the #1 contender, touting two TKO wins and cementing herself for gold. After a controversy with anabolic steroids in 2012, Cyborg fell out of the good graces of a proper competition for the champ.

Cyborg was also granted a waiver from a USADA suspension in 2017, following a positive test pool for Spironolactone. Champ de Randamie was less than eager about it. The UFC stripped de Randamie of her featherweight hardware in June 2017, four months after she won the title! She told SBNation Network she didn’t even have any idea that she was being stripped.

During the frame of the same year, Nicco Montano bagged the inaugural women’s flyweight championship after TUF 26. Two months short of a year later, the then-4-2 Montano was set to defend against red-hot Valentina Shevchenko.

She couldn’t, as she suffered weight-cut issues and was hospitalized; UFC wasn’t fond of it and stripped her of the title. Funnily enough, Jones was stripped of his UFC 205-pound hardware in 2017 (for a third time), coming in positive for the steroid Turinabol. Yet, he now stands a weight class above as the ‘best’ to do it.

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