UFC president Dana White has confirmed that Jon Jones changed his mind about fighting Tom Aspinall as fans come to terms with his retirement.
As we know, Jon Jones has decided to retire from mixed martial arts. While he's had an incredible career, his heavyweight run certainly left a lot to be desired. The majority of fight fans are of the belief that he should've squared off with Aspinall, especially given that the Englishman is the interim champion in the division.
Either way, though, it doesn't seem as if we're going to see Jon Jones in action anytime soon, especially now that Aspinall has been promoted to undisputed champion status. There were plenty of rumors going around regarding how this came about and in a recent interview, Dana White opted to shed a bit of light on the subject.
Dana White confirms Jon Jones changed his mind about Tom Aspinall fight
"I saw (Jones' legal news Sunday). When I saw it today, I thought, 'Every one is going to think that's why he retired,'" White told the Mac Life and other reporters Sunday at the Canelo vs. Crawford news conference in New York. "Maybe that is why he retired. Who the hell knows, man. I don't know. These are all questions you have to ask him. We had the fight done. You saw me talking about it very confidently, that this fight was going to happen, and then he changed his mind."
"No, (he's not ducking Tom Aspinall)," White said. "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 (at UFC 151). He's never ducked anybody and I think the reality of it is, whatever changed his mind with this fight, you'd have to ask him that. He's 38 years old, and I don't know."
Quotes via MMA Junkie