Breaking news, Jon Jones is retiring from mixed martial arts, UFC CEO Dana White announced Saturday.
“Jon Jones called us last night and retired,” White told reporters in Baku, Azerbaijan, “Jon Jones is officially retired. Tom Aspinall is the heavyweight champion of the UFC.”
Jones, 37, stepped into the Octagon for the final time at UFC 309 last November. He defeated Stipe Miocic via third-round TKO at Madison Square Garden in New York. In the seven months since that bout, the UFC worked on booking a highly anticipated matchup between Jones and Aspinall. White said earlier this year he was confident it would come to fruition sometime in 2025, but Jones repeatedly downplayed Aspinall as an opponent and said he wasn’t interested in fighting him. Jones hinted at retirement several times in the last few weeks. With the news breaking today, it put to rest the speculation of Jones looking into retirement.
Tom time is now
With this news breaking, Tom Aspinall will be promoted to undisputed heavyweight champion.
“Do I regret the time that I gave him (to make his retirement decision)? Listen, if you look at what he’s accomplished in the sport, no,” White said. “It is what it is. I obviously feel bad for Tom that he lost all that time and obviously money, but we’ll make it up to him.
“Tom Aspinall is a good guy. He’s been incredible through this whole process that we’ve gone through. He’s been willing to do anything, fight (Jones) anywhere at any time, and now he’s like, ‘I’ll fight anybody. You tell me who, and I’ll fight him,’ Tom Aspinall has been great. He’s gonna be a great heavyweight champion for us. I’m excited to work with him.”
THE GOAT
Jones is the greatest MMA fighter of all time. He’s a former two-time light heavyweight champion, former interim light heavyweight champion, and now a former heavyweight champion. Jones holds the UFC record for the most wins in title fights (16) and most successful title defenses (12). Jon Jones is also the youngest UFC champion ever (23). He’s one of nine fighters to win UFC championships in multiple divisions.
Jones defended the 205-pound belt 11 times across two reigns, beating the likes of Daniel Cormier, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Glover Teixeira, Alexander Gustafsson, Lyoto Machida, and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. In 2023, Jones moved up to heavyweight and captured the vacant title, submitting Ciryl Gane at UFC 285.
Jones, born in Rochester, New York, but based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, ends his career on a 20-fight unbeaten streak and with a 28-1 (1 NC) record. His only loss was a controversial disqualification due to illegal elbows against Matt Hamill in 2009.
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Robert LaMar is a writer for Dice City Sports. You can follow him on X via @RobertLaMar26
