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The UFC heavyweight title was handed over in a news conference.
UFC heavyweight champion and MMA legend Jon Jones told the promotion he has retired at the age of 37, Dana White said on Saturday after the promotion's card in Baku. Correspondingly, interim heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall has been elevated to the full title.
"Jon Jones called us last night and retired. Jon Jones is officially retired. Tom Aspinall is the heavyweight champion of the UFC," White said.
The abrupt retirement finally puts an end to one of the most bizarre standoffs in sports.
After a decade of dominance in the UFC light heavyweight division that cemented him as one of the greatest fighters in MMA history, "Bones" moved up to heavyweight and won the title vacated by Francis Ngannou against Ciryl Gane in 2023.
The UFC's first move was to pair up Jones and Stipe Miocic in a clash of two of the sport's greatest fighters. It sounded like a fun idea, and then Miocic got injured, and the fight got delayed for months. That would have been an issue by itself, but Aspinall was simultaneously laying waste to the rest of the division and was clearly deserving — demanding, really — of a title shot.
Jones and Miocic eventually met in Nov. 2024, with Jones dominating the former champion to defend the title. Before that, Aspinall won the interim title against Sergei Pavlovich and made the rare step of defending it against Curtis Blaydes.
A Jones-Aspinall was the only step forward, but Jones appeared to think the contest should have been more like hide-and-seek. More months passed with no bout materializing. Jones was very publicly enjoying himself, while Aspinall fumed. Jones laughed off all accusations he was ducking a younger, stronger fighter who was widely expected to take his title, but there really was no other word for what he was doing.
All of this happened because the UFC allowed it to happen, with White defending Jones' status as champion with every turn, even though it meant leaving one of the most exciting fighters in the promotion on the shelf with little recourse. White provided some hope a fight was finally happening earlier this month, but Jones' final act as champion ended up being an Irish goodbye.
Aspinall will now take over as champion in an anti-climax, and the UFC figures to move quickly to give him his first real title fight. He's already beaten many of the division's top contenders, including Pavlovich, Blaydes and Alexander Volkov, which could leave Gane as the natural choice for his first defense.
This could be the start of one of the UFC's great runs as champion, but it will always be remembered as a frustrating and messy beginning. In the end, though, the whole saga could color Jones' legacy a lot more than Aspinall's.
There is no debating who the GOAT of MMA is without mentioning Jones, who became a UFC champion earlier than anyone and defended his titles more than anyone. He finishes his career with a record of 28-1 (1), with the only loss coming on a disqualification for illegal 12-6 elbows, which are now legal.
Jones beat Mauricio Rua in 2011 at the age of 23 to become the promotion's youngest champion ever and successfully defended it eight times. He won the title back and defended it three more times before making the jump to heavyweight and winning that title too. No fighter ruled his division for longer than Jones, which made the other side of his fame so frustrating.
Jones lost his title twice not due to getting beat in the Octagon but for a hit-and-run incident that injured a pregnant woman and a positive test for turinabol. Drug tests challenged him more than any fighter, and there was also a domestic violence arrest in 2021.
As Jones aged, his wins became far less dominant — his last two light heavyweight fights featured some controversial judging decisions — while the UFC continued to treat him like a guy it couldn't afford to lose. Potential career-making fights against Aspinall and Frances Ngannou never materialized, as the UFC insisted him beating up a 42-year-old Miocic was what the fans needed to see.
That career is now over and the debates over Jones' legacy can really begin. If they only stick to the fights in the Octagon, he should come out looking quite well.
