Jon Jones: UFC heavyweight picture ‘sucks’ but ‘I don’t pull the strings’

Jones holds the regular title, but interim champion Tom Aspinall claims that the American has retired

Jon Jones has hinted that he has in fact retired from fighting, admitting it “sucks” that the UFC heavyweight division has stalled in recent months.

Jones has held the heavyweight title since March 2023, while Tom Aspinall has reigned as interim champion since November of the same year. Aspinall claimed the interim belt by knocking out Sergei Pavlovich, after an injured Jones was unable to defend his title against Stipe Miocic.

American Jones finally returned in November 2024, stopping compatriot Miocic to remain champion, but only after Aspinall made the rare move of defending the interim strap. The Briton retained the gold with a first-minute knockout of Curtis Blaydes in July.

Despite that dynamic atop the division, the UFC has still not booked a unification bout between the champions, and Jones has never publicly said he will fight Aspinall, who insisted to The Independent this week that “Bones” is retired. Now, Jones himself has offered perhaps the greatest hint yet that he has called time on his career.

When one X user told Jones to vacate his title on Friday (6 June), the former two-time light-heavyweight champion replied: “I spoke to the UFC a long time ago about what my future plans were. I haven’t really worked out since my last fight in New York City.

“Honestly, I believe it’s been in the UFC’s best interest to keep presenting me as the company’s champion—not Tom. I’ve just been playing the role of the company man by doing nothing at all… and holding the position.

“And truthfully, it’s been incredibly lucrative. I’ve made more money off of Tom being the interim champ than Tom has himself. It sucks to see the rest of the division get slowed down like this, but that has nothing to do with me. I don’t pull the strings.

“And remember, you can’t strip a guy like me at this point I give the belt up freely. Veni, vidi, vici.”

Jones, 38, also took aim at Aspinall, 32, saying: “Unfortunately, my boy is not as special as his fan base thinks he is right now [...] Time will show. Here today gone tomorrow.

Jon Jones (right) during his third-round stoppage win over Stipe Miocic (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

“No, honestly, I wish Tommy no ill will. He is no threat to me whatsoever, he should start with just trying to be the best heavyweight of all time, that goal would be plenty. My career is on a completely different planet if we’re being honest. I really don’t hate on other fighters, i’m usually just responding to their envy.

“It really has nothing to do with fear [that I won’t fight him]. The question I asked my close friends and family is how much higher can a person like me [climb] this sport. The goal for athletes is to build a brand and then take that brand and become so much more than an athlete.

“A lot of the fans and fighters are not used to seeing someone go out on top the way I have. I get that it’s uncomfortable and I don’t expect people to understand territories that they’ve never been.”

While some view Jones as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, his career has been marred by numerous failed drug tests and run-ins with the law. Still, Jones is effectively unbeaten, with his sole loss having come via DQ in 2009.

Tom Aspinall (left) stopped Curtis Blaydes in one minute (REUTERS)

Meanwhile, Aspinall is 15-3 in MMA and 8-1 in the UFC. In the promotion, his only defeat occurred due to injury, while all of his career finishes have come via stoppage. In fact, Aspinall holds the UFC record for the shortest fight time of an athlete with five or more bouts; all of his wins in the promotion have come in the first two rounds – seven in round one, two in the first minute.

Aspinall’s decision to defend the interim belt was a rarity in the UFC, as the Wigan heavyweight aimed to stay active during Jones’s absence. In that fight, Aspinall stopped Curtis Blaydes in 60 seconds, avenging his injury-induced loss to the American in 2022.

This week, Aspinall spoke to The Independent about Jones’s apparent retirement, and broke down the skillsets of the other heavyweights whom he could fight next – most likely Ciryl Gane, Alexander Volkov and Jailton Almeida.