Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall was a done deal with the fight being targeted for the UFC’s return to Madison Square Garden in New York but then the reigning heavyweight champion changed his mind and decided to retire from the sport instead.
That’s according to UFC CEO Dana White, who offered new details on Jones’ decision to retire on Sunday after he first broke the news during the UFC Baku post-fight press conference on Saturday. White revealed the fight was effectively booked but then Jones made a call to the UFC a couple of days ago to inform the promotion that he was hanging up his gloves for good.
“He called us and just started saying ‘you know what, I think I’m done, I want to retire. It’s been a great run, I appreciate everything’ and that was it,” White told MMA Fighting during a media scrum at Fanatics Fest. “He was absolutely, positively sure that he wanted to retire and we said why don’t you sleep on it, if you wake up in the morning if that’s how you still feel.
“You never know what Jon Jones is dealing with and then you wake up the next day [and there’s new criminal charges]. Who knows. I don’t know everything that went into this decision. It’s something you guys are going to have to ask him if you ever see him again … all I know is he made it very clear that he wanted to retire and I don’t disagree with him.”
Jones was hit with new criminal charges on June 17 for leaving the scene of an accident in New Mexico with his next court appearance scheduled for Tuesday. He only faces a misdemeanor charge for the allegations against him but White had no idea any of that was happening until he returned home from Azerbaijan so he can’t say for certain if that played in part in Jones decision to retire.
“I saw it today,” White said about Jones’ latest legal issues. “When I saw it today I said everybody’s going to think this is why he retired. Maybe that is why he retired. Who the hell knows. I don’t know. These are all questions you’ve got to ask him.
“We had the fight done. You saw me talking about it very confidently that this fight was going to happen and he changed his mind.”
White made guarantees for several months that Jones vs. Aspinall was going to happen and now it appears that his confidence centered around already having agreements in places from both fighters. He added that Jones was going to be paid “what he deserves” for a fight of that magnitude.
While nothing was signed, White expected Jones vs. Aspinall to headline the UFC’s annual trip to New York City but then he got the news that arguably the greatest fighter of all-time was retiring. Despite the circumstances and how it all played out, White was adamant that he still doesn’t believe Jones was ducking Aspinall and retired rather than fight him.
“The fight was done,” White said. “We had the fight done a long time ago. Why he decided not to fight, you guys will have to ask him that.
“No, Jon Jones — I’ve said it a million times and I’ll say it again — he’s never ducked anybody. Other than that one goofy time with the Chael Sonnen thing, he’s never ducked anybody. I think the reality is whatever changed his mind with this fight, I don’t know you’d have to ask him that but he’s 38 years old and I don’t know.”
Jones’ decision to retire may have been surprising at the time but White keeps the same attitude towards every fighter when that conversation starts.
“We had the fight done,” White reiterated. “Our job is to make the biggest fights we can make and the fights that the fans want to see and that’s what we try to do. But the minute somebody starts talking about retirement, you know my philosophy on that, you should do it.”
