One of the more active UFC champions in the present-day seems to have think it's time for the inactivity of Jon Jones to be addressed in some way. During a recent interview with Stake, Alexandre Pantoja covered several subjects including one of the more ubiquitous topics in the world of mixed martial arts today which centers on the Jon Jones-Tom Aspinall situation.
When asked how long it should be for a UFC champion between title defenses before talks of stripping them emerge in the context of the controversy within the heavyweight division presently, Pantoja said,
“I think maybe six months. Six months to have something scheduled. Let’s put 10 months from fight to fight, and why not? Jon Jones is a very special fighter, everybody loves him, but what is happening now is sad. Maybe it’s time to say bye. Tom Aspinall deserves this fight, we deserve to see this fight. It’s not right that Aspinall is standing by."
"Nobody is going to judge Jon Jones, he doesn’t need to fight Aspinall, but if he doesn't want to fight and he wants to retire, then I think he has to say bye. I hope Aspinall is still training and in the gym and he doesn’t waste his time. Jon is enjoying his life, and he deserves it.”
Jon Jones and Alexandre Pantoja's championship journeys: compared and contrasted
Jon Jones and Alexandre Pantoja both won their respective straps in the same calendar year but the stories of their respective reigns have unfurled quite differently. Jones actually won his belt a bit sooner when he claimed the vacant heavyweight crown over Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in March 2023 while Pantoja won the flyweight belt at UFC 290 against Brandon Moreno in July of that year.
While it's fair to mention the pectoral injury that took Jones out of the game for a period circa late 2023-early 2024, 'Bones' has only been able to notch a single defense of his crown which came against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 last November. Conversely, Pantoja is poised to potentially make his fourth title defense against Kai Kara-France at month's end in their UFC 317 championship clash on June 28th.
The prior flyweight championship defenses for the Brazilian mixed martial artist saw Alexandre Pantoja notch successful defenses over Brandon Royval, Steve Erceg, and Kai Asakura.
