Jon Jones is walking away from mixed martial arts.
Following a two-year build to a superfight against interim titleholder Tom Aspinall that never came to fruition as UFC repeatedly refused to strip the inactive “Bones” of his heavyweight championship, the 37-year-old Jones informed the promotion late Friday that he is retiring.
UFC president/CEO Dana White, who had recently given Jones a public deadline of two weeks to decide whether he’s returning, revealed the news Saturday during a press conference following a UFC Fight Night card in Baku, Azerbaijan.
“Jon Jones called us last night and retired,” White said. “Jon Jones is officially retired. Tom Aspinall is the heavyweight champion of the UFC.”
A two-division champion and long-time light heavyweight king, Jones (28-1, 1 NC), has attained almost universal status as the greatest fighter in the 32-year history of the UFC and the sport of mixed martial arts, at large. Simultaneously, however, Jones’ incredible 17-year, which saw him stripped of UFC titles a record three times due to drug test failures and arrests, has been marred by constant personal transgressions and legal issues, not to mention feuds with White and the promotion.
Jones, who returned from a three-year retirement to capture the vacant title against Cyril Gane in 2023, was expected to finally face Aspinall (15-3) later this year. The 32-year-old native of England, won the interim title in November 2023 against Sergei Pavlovich after Jones pulled out of a scheduled title defense against former champion Stipe Miocic.
Aspinall, who predicted he would retire Jones without even fighting him, went on to defend his interim in July by knocking out Curtis Blaydes in their rematch following the UFC’s controversial decision to allow Jones to return from a 20-month injury layoff to fight Miocic last November. Jones defeated Miocic via third-round TKO despite the fight being criticized due to the 42-year-old Miocic’s layoff of nearly four years.
After the announcement on Saturday, Aspinall sent a message to his fans on social media.
“For you fans. It’s time to get this heavyweight division going,” Aspinall wrote on Instagram. “An active undisputed champion.”
Much of the disappointment surrounding Jones’ retirement concerns both the UFC’s enabling of the situation and the fact that White announced at UFC 316 in June that Jones had previously agreed to the bout. Jones, who has changed his tune repeatedly in recent years surrounding his future, then went on a podcast this week and only added fuel to the fire of not actually fighting Aspinall by playing up retirement talks.
“I don’t want to say that I’m retired because fighting’s in my blood,” Jones told the “Full Send” podcast. “Right now, I could really care less about fighting. I’ve been doing it my whole life at a very high level and when the itch comes back — and if it comes back — then I’ll do it with my whole heart, do it to the best of my abilities.”
“I think I will fight again. Where the future of combat sports is going, it’s going to be amazing when I pop back up.”
Jones’ UFC career has been nearly perfect inside the cage. His lone defeat, a 2009 disqualification against Matt Hamill in his fourth Octagon appearance, was the result of a 12-to-6 elbow strike from top position that is now a legal move. Jones walks away having defeated just about every Hall of Famer of the previous era, including Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, Glover Teixeira, and Daniel Cormier (twice), with the second result overturned due to a failed drug test in 2017.
On Saturday, White told reporters in Baku that he doesn’t regret giving Jones, who was within two months of approaching Cain Velasquez’s UFC record for the longest heavyweight title reign, an unprecedented amount of time to make his decision.
“Listen, if you look at what [Jones] accomplished in the sport, no. It is what it is,” White said. “I obviously feel bad for Tom that he lost all that time and money but we will make it up to him. Tom Aspinall is a good guy, he has been incredible in this process. He will be a great heavyweight champion for us and I’m excited to work with him.”
Shortly after White made the announcement, news surfaced of Jones facing yet another criminal charge. Jones was charged with fleeing the scene of an accident in New Mexico in February. He’s scheduled to appear in court on July 24 for bond arraignment on the incident.
