Jon Jones is officially retired. That was not something on most MMA’s fan bingo cards.
The former UFC Heavyweight Champion shocked the masses over the weekend by relinquishing the prestigious title. This comes after a very frustrating 2025 where the heavyweight division was at a standstill because Tom Aspinall and Jon Jones couldn’t come to an agreement on a fight date.
However, Dana White was adamant that the fight will happen. And it almost did. The UFC CEO revealed during a media scrum at Fanatics Fest that the fight between Aspinall and Jones was officially booked. But Jones came out of nowhere and opted to retire.
“He called us and just started saying ‘you know what, I think I’m done, I want to retire. It’s been a great run, I appreciate everything’ and that was it,” White said. “He was absolutely, positively sure that he wanted to retire and we said why don’t you sleep on it, if you wake up in the morning if that’s how you still feel.
“You never know what Jon Jones is dealing with and then you wake up the next day [and there’s new criminal charges]. Who knows. I don’t know everything that went into this decision. It’s something you guys are going to have to ask him if you ever see him again … all I know is he made it very clear that he wanted to retire and I don’t disagree with him.”
To the surprise of very few, Jon Jones was hit with a new criminal charge hours after his retirement was made known to the masses. White has no clue why the 37-year-old decided to hang up the gloves for good, but he thinks these criminal charges could be part of the reason.
“I saw it today,” White said about Jones’ latest legal issues. “When I saw it today I said everybody’s going to think this is why he retired. Maybe that is why he retired. Who the hell knows. I don’t know. These are all questions you’ve got to ask him. We had the fight done. You saw me talking about it very confidently that this fight was going to happen and he changed his mind.”
Fans believe that Jones is ducking Aspinall. White fights vehemently against that notion. There’s only one person Jones has ducked in his career.
“No, Jon Jones — I’ve said it a million times and I’ll say it again — he’s never ducked anybody. Other than that one goofy time with the Chael Sonnen thing, he’s never ducked anybody. I think the reality is whatever changed his mind with this fight, I don’t know you’d have to ask him that but he’s 38 years old and I don’t know.”
Why do you think Jon Jones decided to retire?