In a surprising development, UFC CEO Dana White announced that Jon Jones has retired from mixed martial arts.
White announced the shocking news on Saturday in Azerbaijan, explaining that Jones informed the promotion of his decision to retire on Friday.
"Jon Jones called us last night and retired," White said during a press conference in Azerbaijan. "Jon Jones is officially retired. Tom Aspinall is the heavyweight champion of the UFC."
Jones claimed the vacant UFC Heavyweight Championship back in March 2023 when he defeated Ciryl Gane. However, an injury ahead of his planned fight against former two-time heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, led to Aspinall facing Sergei Pavlovich for the Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship in November 2023. Aspinall would go on to win the fight by knockout and become the Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion. Aspinall also defended his interim title against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in July 2024.
Jones would eventually defend his Heavyweight title in November 2024 by defeating Miocic. It was Jones' twelfth title defense in total (when you include his run as Light Heavyweight Champion), breaking the record for most title defenses in UFC history.
The UFC had been planning a heavyweight title unification bout between Jon Jones and interim champion Tom Aspinall, but with Jones’s unexpected retirement, Aspinall has now been promoted to undisputed champion.
With Jones retiring, Aspinall has vowed to get the Heavyweight division going again as an "active Undisputed Champion" -- a clear shot at Jones who fought only twice during his tenure as UFC's Heavyweight Champion. Jones' retirement finally puts an end to the long-awaited potential matchup between the two fighters, which almost certainly would have been one of the biggest fights in UFC heavyweight history.
"I obviously feel bad for Tom that he lost all that time and 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," White said. "He's been willing to do anything -- fight him anywhere and anytime and do this, and now he's like, 'I'll fight anybody. You tell me who, and I'll fight him.' So Aspinall has been great. He's going to be a great heavyweight champion for us, and I'm excited to work with him."
The 37-year-old Jones (28-1) ends his illustrious career as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. At age 23, he became the youngest champion in UFC history with his light heavyweight title victory over Mauricio Rua. Jones' dominance in the light heavyweight division is unmatched; he holds records for the most title defenses, the most wins, and the longest winning streak. His only professional loss came by a controversial disqualification against Matt Hamill back in December 2009.
Jones' career is not without a little controversy though. In 2015, he was stripped of his light heavyweight title and removed from the UFC's official rankings after he was arrested on felony hit-and-run charges. His victories in title bouts against Ovince Saint Preux and Daniel Cormier in 2016 and 2017, respectively, were both overshadowed by Jones testing positive for banned substances for which he was stripped of the title and suspended. The fight against Cormier was reversed into a no contest.
His suspension was lifted in 2017 and he reclaimed the light heavyweight title by defeating Alexander Gustafsson in 2018. He would go on to defend the light heavyweight championship three times -- against Anthony Smith (2019), Thiago Santos (2019), and Dominick Reyes (2020) -- before voluntarily vacating the light heavyweight division in 2020. Jones spent three years away from MMA before returning in 2023 and defeating Ciryl Gane to win the UFC heavyweight title.
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