Jon Jones has announced his retirement, and Tom Aspinall has been promoted to undisputed heavyweight champion according to UFC CEO Dana White.

White announced the news during today’s UFC Baku post-fight press conference.

“Jon Jones called us last night and retired,” White said. “Jon Jones is officially retired. Tom Aspinall is the heavyweight champion of the UFC.”

The UFC CEO had recently set a deadline for the proposed ‘Jones vs. Aspinall’ fight to happen, this after months of back and forth between the two heavyweight title holders.

‘Bones’ has not competed since successfully defending the promotion‘s undisputed heavyweight title with a TKO win over former champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November of last year (see that here). The 37-year-old had originally captured the heavyweight crown with a first-round submission victory over Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in March of 2023.

The news will come as a disappointment to many fight fans, as the potential Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall matchup was arguably the most anticipated bout of the year.

With that said, Jones will retire with arguably the greatest resume in mixed martial arts history. ‘Bones’ originally captured UFC gold by taking the light heavyweight title away from then champion Mauricio Shogun Rua with a third-round TKO victory in March of 2011. He went on to defend that 205lbs title on eight consecutive occasions, this before being forced to vacate the belt with a positive drug test. Jon Jones later reclaimed the undisputed light heavyweight title and then recorded another three title defenses before vacating the belt in order to move up to heavyweight.

According to Dana White, newly promoted undisputed heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall will be in Vegas next week for International Fight Week and they will meet with him to figure out what is next.

What do you think of the news that Jon Jones has officially retired from MMA?