In what would be an insane plot twist to recent UFC events, former UFC two-division champion Jon Jones — just two weeks after announcing his official retirement from MMA — has announced he is coming out of retirement and re-entering the UFC’s drug testing pool.
Jones announced the move himself on social media, stating “figured we’d keep everyone’s options open.”
It appears the recent news of U.S. President Donald Trump’s desire to have a UFC card on the grounds of the White House next Fourth of July weekend — as part of the nation’s events to celebrate the country’s 250th birthday — may have hooked in Jones as well, based on a different social media post about 20 minutes prior.
Conor McGregor previously posted to social media earlier in the day, teasing that such an event could be what brings him out of his long UFC hiatus, and perhaps finally to take on Michael Chandler.
Jon Jones Announcing Reversal On Retirement Decision?
This news comes on the heels of Jones announcing his retirement recently in what many thought marked the end of a long, drawn-out saga of fight negotiations between him and new undisputed UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.
There is a dispute over whether or not a fight between the two was nearly official prior to Jones’ retirement. Jones has claimed that a fight was never signed; meanwhile, UFC President Dana White claimed the fight had been signed and was to be announced — only for Jones to change his mind and retire, citing a lack of interest in competing. Jones made those remarks on a podcast appearance. MMA insider Ariel Helwani, meanwhile, claims White’s side to the story is the true sequence of events.
After dominating the UFC’s light heavyweight scene throughout the 2010s, Jones relinquished the light heavyweight title in 2020 and took a three-year hiatus, coming back at UFC 285 to defeat Ciryl Gane for the UFC heavyweight title.
He was scheduled to defend the title at UFC 295 against Stipe Miocic, but the fight was delayed one year after Jones tore his pec. The UFC elected not to strip Jones, with Aspinall winning the interim title at the card and making a rare defense of an interim belt, defeating Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304. Jones went on to defeat Miocic at UFC 309.
Jones has dealt with plenty of legal troubles over the years as well, and just hours after retiring, a report came out accusing Jones of leaving the scene of an accident this past February. Police alleged that, when speaking with Jones — after finding a woman naked from the waist down in a vehicle allegedly driven by Jones — Jones implied “his capacity to employ lethal force through third parties.”
