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Earlier this month, UFC president Dana White announced that heavyweight champion Jon Jones had retired and vacated his title, making Tom Aspinall the new champion. Jones later confirmed his retirement, but the two don’t appear to be on the same page about how and when it happened.
White told reporters that he had made a fight between Jones and Aspinall to unify the heavyweight title and the interim heavyweight title held by the Brit. He claims that Jones ultimately backed out of the fight before announcing his retirement. But now Jones is telling a different story.
Jon Jones just revealed why it took so long to announce his retirement 👀
“I was retired last November… I was told 1,000 times to just reconsider and give it more time. That’s the truth. My job at the time was to sit back and be quiet about it and that’s what I did.” pic.twitter.com/k62y8SIYNk
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) June 27, 2025
“I was retired last November and I’ve been working nonstop,” Jones posted on X. “I’m actually working harder now that I’m not fighting. But it’s so much fun. No more sweating, just using my personality and giving fans all the love that I can. Sounds like a pretty good gig.”
Jones then says that the UFC asked him to reconsider and keep news of his decision quiet.
“I was told 1,000 times to just reconsider and just give it more time. That’s the truth,” he noted.
According to Jones, there were negotiations for a fight with Aspinall. But he claims that nothing ever got close to getting done.
Ultimately, the truth in this story probably lies somewhere in the middle. It doesn’t sound like Jones particularly wanted to fight Aspinal. But everybody has a price. What’s interesting now is to see how the rift affects a previously strong relationship between Jones and White.