Tom Aspinall provides stunning update as Brit claims Jon Jones is 'retired'

Daily Mirror

2 days ago

The British heavyweight star has not fought in nearly a year and has grown frustrated with the lack of movement regarding his next fight in the UFC
Tom Aspinall has declared himself the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion after stating that Jon Jones is 'retired.'
The interim heavyweight champion has not fought since successfully defending the strap, following a first-round knockout win against Curtis Blaydes. Aspinall has been growing increasingly frustrated with Jones' antics over the last few months. Following Jones' victory over Stipe Miocic last November, fans eagerly anticipated a clash between him and Aspinall.
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However, as of yet, nothing has been materialised. UFC supremo Dana White is adamant that an announcement will be made soon. Recently, Jones sent fans into meltdown when he revealed he had 'agreed' a deal with Aspinall to wait for an official announcement on their future.
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In an interview on the Good Guy / Bad Guy podcast with UFC icons Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen, Aspinall was questioned about his stance. Cormier asked the Brit if he had allowed the UFC to make a decision on what he was doing - before the 32-year-old provided some stunning news.
Dismissing the rumours, Asinall stated: "Nah man, Jon is retired." Further commenting: "What are you talking about guys? You guys don't follow Jon on social media? Me too [I don't follow him]. But 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 in what he does in his life and his career.
"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 contenders are getting sick of it, everybody is getting sick of it, even the fans are getting sick of this stuff. So Jon's retired and it's time that we move on."
Aspinall later took to Instagram with a message for Jones: "Want to be the first to wish Jon all the best in his retirement," he penned. "Let's get this division going UFC." Fans had been buzzing about a potential showdown at the UFC's annual Madison Square Garden event in New York come November.
However, Aspinall's recent remarks suggest the British fighter has other plans. Now, the most logical bout for the British star appears to be against Ciryl Gane. The French fighter narrowly clinched a split decision win over Alexander Volkov last December. It has been a difficult year for the interim champion given the delay and has admitted that the Jones drama has become more mentally difficult than the toughest time in his career.
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In a recent interview with UFC legend Demetrious Johnson, Aspinall admitted that the continuous delays have been more difficult for him mentally than when he went through a career-threatening injury. Back in 2022, during the Brit's first meeting with Blaydes, the fight came to a devastating end just seconds into the dust-up when Aspinall suffered a brutal injury to his knee - which sidelined him for over a year.
Since then, the 32-year-old has opened up about how mentally draining it was on him to be out of action for such a long period of time. 'It was obviously devastating to get injured in front of everybody and stuff. But anyway, it was a tough time for me. Came back, took me a year with the rehab… So it was a tough couple of months mentally.
'But I always had a little goal to work towards. Now, I've been almost a year inactive with no prospect of anything apart from wait. So now is actually a little bit more of a tricky time for me mentally than it was then. I constantly had little goals to work towards, whereas now it's like, 'Right, just be ready and we'll let you know', it's kind of difficult mentally."