Tom Aspinall has reacted to the news that Jon Jones has officially retired and that he has now been promoted to undisputed UFC heavyweight champion.
It was less than an hour ago when UFC CEO Dana White made the shocking announcement that Jon Jones has officially retired from the sport of MMA.
White shared the news during today’s UFC Baku post-fight press conference sharing the following:
“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.
Apparently, that ultimatum was enough for ‘Bones’ to make his decision to hang up the gloves for good.
Despite Jones’ sensational UFC career, there is no doubt that many fight fans will be extremely disappointed with his decision, as the proposed bout with Tom Aspinall was arguably the most anticipated heavyweight fight in the last decade.
With that said, Jones has already cemented his legacy as one of, if not the greatest fighter of all time. ‘Bones’ originally captured UFC gold by taking the light heavyweight title away from then champion Mauricio Shogun Rua with a third-round TKO victory way back in March of 2011. He went on to defend that 205lbs title on eight consecutive occasions, this while earning 3 more defenses of the light heavyweight crown later in his career. The 37-year-old had most recently competed at UFC 309 in November of last year, where he defended the promotion’s heavyweight title for the first time by scoring a TKO victory over former champ Stipe Miocic (see that here).
The news of Jon Jones’ retirement will undoubtedly come as a tough pill to swallow for Tom Aspinall, but the Brit is ready to move on and start his own legacy after being promoted to undisputed UFC heavyweight champion earlier this afternoon.
Aspinall took to Instagram with the following message for his fans:
Tom Aspinall on Dana White announcing him as the new UFC undisputed heavyweight champion after Jon Jones’ retirement 😤 pic.twitter.com/flzFLhSk7h
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 21, 2025
“For you fans. It’s time to get this Heavyweight division going. An active undisputed champion.”
According to Dana White, Tom Aspinall will be in Vegas next week for International Fight Week and they will meet with the Brit to figure out what is next.
