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UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones is now former UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones. At least, that’s what rival Tom Aspinall said Monday while breaking news of Jones’ retirement from fighting.
Aspinall, the interim heavyweight champion, told Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen on their Good Guy/Bad Guy show that he’s done waiting around for Jones, who he then said is retired and no longer active as a UFC fighter.
Tom Aspinall Claims Jon Jones Is Retired From UFC After Turning Down Title Fight
“Jon’s retired,” Aspinall said. “What are you talking about? You guys don’t follow Jon on social media? The guy is living his best life. He’s had a fantastic career, we all know. We know Jon’s a religious man, so I want to say God bless him moving forward, what he does in his life and his career, and we move on. We move on.
“I’m the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. I’m ready to take on all comers, get this division moving again. Us guys have been waiting around too long. The guys, contenders are getting sick of it, everybody’s getting sick of it, even the fans are getting sick of it. Jon’s retired and it’s time that we move on.”
The comments come just days after Ariel Helwani reported that Jones turned down an opportunity to defend his UFC heavyweight championship against Aspinall. According to Helwani, Jones asked the UFC for a significant amount of money in order to fight Aspinall. When the UFC obliged, he then changed his mind and said that he would not fight the 32-year-old Brit.
“If one guy is thinking about retiring, he’s retired,” Aspinall continued. “I ain’t thinking about retiring. I’m thinking about getting this division active, making the heavyweight division great again, getting these big fights in, fighting these contenders who are sat on the sidelines waiting for over a year at this point. I’m here to fight, man.”
Over 100,000 fans have also signed a petition for the UFC to strip Jones of his heavyweight title. UFC president Dana White has not shown any interest in doing that. But if Jones refuses to fight Aspinall, he may be left with little choice.