Jon Jones, widely considered greatest mixed martial artist of all time, announces retirement
'Jon Jones called us last night and retired. Jon Jones has officially retired,' White told reporters, responding to questions about the UFC heavyweight division, which has been in stasis for months, waiting for Jones to decide whether to face interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall in a unification fight.
'Tom Aspinall is the heavyweight champion of the UFC,' White added.
Jones, 37, later confirmed his retirement, posting on X that 'this decision comes after a lot of reflection.'
'I'm excited to see how I can continue to contribute to the sport and inspire others in new ways,' he said in his statement. 'Thank you all for being part of this incredible journey with me. The best is yet to come.'
As for the future of the division, White said that Aspinall will be attending UFC International Fight Week next week where they will 'figure out what's next.'
The prospect of Aspinall and Jones fighting each other had hung over the heavyweight division for months, especially after Jones retained his heavyweight title in November against Stipe Miocic.
And fans were increasingly clamoring for such a fight. Earlier this month, a petition calling for White to strip Jones of the heavyweight title gathered more than 195,000 signatures.
Just two weeks ago, White said he still expected the fight to go ahead, telling reporters that Jones had accepted a deal to do it but had not yet signed a contract.
For his part, Jones said on X on June 6 that he doesn't 'pull the strings' in the division, adding that he hadn't worked out his future plans.
He also suggested fighting former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, a possibility that White quickly shut down.
'Tom Aspinall is the guy,' White said on June 8. 'We've been talking to this kid forever about it. It's his fight. You can't make people fight. If Jon doesn't want to fight, we can't make him fight. We can try to make him fight, we can throw things at him that inspire him to want to fight.'
During his career, Jones accumulated a 28-1-0 record, and became the youngest champion in UFC history at the age of 23 when he defeated Maurício Rua to win the light heavyweight division in 2009.
After dominating that division for years, he transformed his body and won the UFC heavyweight title in 2023, defeating France's Ciryl Gane following a three-year absence from the sport.
Outside the octagon, however, he leaves a legacy complicated by legal issues and two suspensions from the United States Anti-Doping Agency after testing positive for banned substances.
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