Latest news with #JonJones
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Tom Aspinall and Demetrious Johnson agree — Jon Jones can never be the MMA GOAT
Jon Jones' status as the greatest of all time has fallen into question arguably more than ever before following his unceremonious retirement. Jon Jones left a lasting legacy on the MMA world as one of its all-time greats, but some of his contemporaries still have questions regarding his placement atop the mountain. After officially retiring this past weekend, Jones is generally considered neck-and-neck with a fellow former two-division UFC champion Georges St-Pierre in MMA's greatest of all time conversation. However Jones' many career asterisks, between his numerous failed drug tests and continuous criminal charges, are too much for some to overlook. Retired flyweight legend Demetrious Johnson is also in the GOAT conversation, and admittedly has gone to bat for Jones in the past. Speaking on a special Friday edition of "The Ariel Helwani Show" in Las Vegas, Johnson revealed what has led him to change his tune. Advertisement "I've never failed a drug test," Johnson said. "Khabib [Nurmagomedov] has never failed a drug test. 'GSP' has never failed a drug test. Why haven't we failed drug tests? You look at the long reigns we've done, we've never been stripped [of the title]. And you look at somebody who has been stripped ... Americans and people who watch this sport have a very short-term memory. They truly f***ing do. But if you go back and peel back the onion, and you look at the whole entire career, I'm not saying Jon Jones didn't do great things — he was an amazing athlete, right? But when you start talking about the greatest of all time, you look at Muhammad Ali. I don't think he's ever failed a drug test. If you look at Floyd Mayweather, he's never failed a drug test. [Oleksander] Usyk, he's never failed a drug test. Usain Bolt. "You look at across the board, name one athlete that's considered the greatest of all time in a sport that's failed a drug test." Jones' retirement didn't come without controversy, as it ended the lengthy saga of his ill-fated heavyweight unification bout against Tom Aspinall. The latter became the longest interim champion in UFC history while waiting for Jones, only to ultimately be promoted to undisputed status in the middle of a UFC Baku post-fight press conference upon Jones' retirement. Advertisement Aspinall, too, shares a similar line of thinking to Johnson regarding the GOAT debate. "'GSP' is my greatest of all time," Aspinall said Friday on "The Ariel Helwani Show." "It goes without saying. He has done everything. Two-division champion, also [avenged] both of his losses, zero PED stuff. And this is my view on PEDs, personally — if you're a sprinter, for example, you do 100 meters, and you take PEDs and you win a race, you become faster than people who are not taking PEDs from that. That's OK. You're a cheat; you've won. They'll take your title off you or whatever, that's fine. If your job is to hurt another person physically, which could potentially redirect the rest of their life post-fighting, you're an absolute piece of s***, and you should never be able to fight again if you have any PED stuff. "It's like taking a gun to a knife fight. It's like taking a knife to a bare-knuckle fight. How can you look yourself in the mirror when you know that you're cheating and you could potentially damage the other person for life? It's disgusting, and anybody who's caught doing any kind of PEDs — and I know there's some tainted supplements out there — but if you do it repeatedly ... you're a pretty sick individual, in my opinion. It shouldn't be allowed." No one was affected more directly by Jones' recent portion of his career than Aspinall, who has been healthy but sidelined for nearly a full year. Aspinall's interim title reign began in November 2023 as a result of a Jones pectoral muscle tear that canceled his controversial title defense against Stipe Miocic. Needing a filler, UFC threw together a late interim bout between Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich, which the Brit won by knockout in a mere 69 seconds. Advertisement Jones' perpetual lack of interest in fighting Aspinall didn't give the new undisputed champ much optimism until a meeting with UFC earlier this year. Then he caught word of Jones' recent antics in Thailand, which finally convinced Aspinall that the matchup was never meant to be. "For me, the second that I won the interim title, I think that a lot of people looked at me a little different to a regular interim champion, in my opinion," Aspinall said. "Just because of the politics around it and the way that things happened. But for me, I was always a champion, anyway. Interim or not. But I would have liked to have taken it from the other champion in a fight. That would have been nice. But I guess it worked out pretty good, anyway, I guess. "From here, I just want to be done with [Jones]. I just want to move on, but I did want to fight him for it. I think that would have been the right thing to do." Advertisement Aspinall said he plans to meet with the UFC to discuss his future sometime before he departs Las Vegas in the coming days, but as of now, he's unsure when he'll fight again. Ideally, the sooner the better, said the undisputed heavyweight king. As for the opponent, he's open to anyone. "Cirly Gane is there, we can do [Alexander] Volkov too, but that's a bit weird because he's coming off the loss, which I actually did think he won, to be fair," Aspinall said. "[Jailton] Almeida's good. I like it. "I was chasing that [Gane] fight when he was above me ... any of 'em. All of 'em. I'm here to fight people, so anybody's good. If somebody wants to fight me, I love that. ... I'd like to beat [everyone] in the top 10."
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Joe Rogan disagrees with Jon Jones underselling 'star' Tom Aspinall before retiring
Joe Rogan thinks Tom Aspinall was a worthy enough opponent for Jon Jones to stick around and fight. Prior to officially retiring and relinquishing his UFC heavyweight title, Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) insisted that beating Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) would not have added much to his legacy, referring to him as "just another guy." Rogan disagrees. "It's also money fights," Rogan said on his "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast with guest Cory Sandhagen. "I think he's wrong because I think Aspinall is a star. I really do, and I think he's saying, 'Who is he? He's no one.' Aspinall is a star. When people ask questions to me all the time, like casuals on the streets, it's, 'Is Jon Jones going to fight Tom Aspinall?' That's like the constant question." The fight Rogan would really love to see for Jones next is Francis Ngannou, but Dana White recently reiterated that he isn't interested in having his former UFC heavyweight champion back. "To me, the real fight would have been Jon Jones vs. Francis," Rogan said. "That's the real fight. Clearly I'm not responsible for making decisions because I would have made a lot of different decisions, and I would have been like, 'Francis, let's talk, work this out.' That guy's a star. "Francis is the f*cking scariest heavyweight of all time. That's a star. That guy as a heavyweight champion is so f*cking marketable, puts people in the orbit. He flatlined Stipe (Miocic), he flatlined Alistair (Overeem). He flatlines people. He's f*cking terrifying. That's the heavyweight champion. ... That's the big fight."
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
‘They kill people for way less': Bodycam video emerges of UFC legend Jon Jones' death threat to police aide
Despite his denials, new bodycam footage of UFC great Jon Jones threatening police officials has emerged. And the evidence is pretty damning. Jones made headlines this week when his long-time boss, Dana White, revealed that he had informed them he was retiring from the sport and would not defend his heavyweight title against interim champ Tom Aspinall. However, many believe his decision may have been forced by being involved in new hit-and-run allegations in New Mexico. Advertisement It was reported on the same day as the retirement news last week that Jones fled the scene of an accident. Police reports stated he left a half-naked female in the car. That individual identified him as the driver to officials who arrived on the scene. Those same officials, including a police aide, claimed the former two-division champion then made death threats when reached by phone. Jon Jones record: 22-1 (11 knockouts, 7 submissions) While Jones denied the allegations, the new bodycam video released Tuesday is bad news for the mixed martial arts icon. 'They slit throats,' the man on the call, who sure sounds like Jones, says. 'They're the most evil people you'll ever meet.' Advertisement 'Guess what, you won't be the first guy this year that I've threatened, swear to God,' the voice added. 'You'd be the second one… My brothers, they kill people for way less.' The woman in the car, on multiple occasions, claims Jones was the driver. And even handed the police aide her phone for the call. This is not the first hit-and-run situation the 37-year-old has been involved in. A decade ago, he faced felony charges for running from the scene of an accident where he collided with a car driven by a pregnant woman. He pleaded guilty and received 18 months' probation. Considering his previous run-ins with the law, Jones could be facing serious penalties if charged in this latest situation. Also Read:: UFC tonight: Complete UFC schedule, including channels, times, and upcoming fight cards Advertisement Related Headlines
CNN
3 days ago
- Sport
- CNN
Jon Jones, widely considered the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, announces retirement
CNN — Jon Jones has retired, ending an illustrious career in which he laid claim to being the greatest mixed martial arts fighter of all time, UFC chief executive Dana White announced at a press conference on Saturday. '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.
Scottish Sun
3 days ago
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
Billionaire ‘got involved' in failed Jon Jones vs Tom Aspinall talks with Dana White as sum UFC icon snubbed revealed
Jones' retirement came moments before news of yet another criminal charge MONEY TALKS Billionaire 'got involved' in failed Jon Jones vs Tom Aspinall talks with Dana White as sum UFC icon snubbed revealed Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) SAUDI boxing bigwig Turki Alalshikh "got involved" in the UFC's ill-fated bid to book a super-fight between Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall, it's been claimed. The huge heavyweight title unification bout officially fell through last weekend when the former undisputed titleholder announced his retirement from mixed martial arts. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 Jon Jones announced his retirement from mixed martial arts last week Credit: GETTY 4 Jones' retirement laid to waste the UFC's efforts to make a blockbuster fight with Tom Aspinall Credit: INSTAGRAM@TOMASPINALL 4 Saudi bigwig Turki Alalashikh reportedly 'got involved' in the ill-fated negotiations Credit: GETTY The UFC did everything in their power to make the mammoth melee, even agreeing to Jones' demands to be paid "F**K YOU MONEY". Frustratingly for Dana White and the rest of the UFC brass, Jones performed a U-turn on the bout after agreeing to unify the belts. And according to veteran MMA reporter Ariel Helwani, the UFC were reluctant to meet Jones' demands for a historic payday until Saudi supremo Alalshikh entered the fray. During the latest episode of The Ariel Helwani Show, he said: "Here's what we can unequivocally say. READ MORE ON JON JONES 'intoxicated' Jon Jones charged with fleeing crash where woman 'lacking clothes' found "I told you months ago, the UFC wanted to make this fight. "They did everything in their power to make this fight. Jon Jones asked for $30 million. "They didn't want to give him $30 million (£22m). They negotiated. I heard from one source that even Turki [Alalshikh] got involved. "He wanted to make the fight. They eventually got to the $30 million. JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS 4 "Jon said he was in. A couple of days later, he said he was out. And once he said he was out, he was never back in." Alalshikh's alleged involvement comes as no surprise given the working relationship he has with the UFC's parent group, the TKO Group. Dana White confirms Jon Jones has retired from UFC with Tom Aspinall the new heavyweight champion Jones' retirement, which was announced minutes before it was revealed he was recently charged with leaving the scene of a non-deadly accident, has resulted in Wigan warrior Aspinall being elevated from interim to undisputed heavyweight champion. And the Atherton assassin has vowed to get the division moving again after Jones held it hostage for the best part of two years. He said: "I am going to keep this thing as active as possible. "I want to be the best heavyweight to ever walk the face of the Earth. "I'm gonna defend this thing as many times as I possibly can and I'm gonna keep you guys entertained. "I'm going to give back to everybody who has shown me support over the last year, over the last five years and over the last ten years. "We're gonna see an active defending UFC heavyweight undisputed champion going forward."
