The chances of the public seeing Jon Jones compete in the near future continue to dwindle more and more by the day.
By now, fans who are keeping track of Jon Jones’s transition to the UFC’s heavyweight division are aware of the ongoing blinking contest that is taking place between Jones and UFC President Dana White. Neither White nor Jones seem to be in a great big hurry for the former light heavyweight king to compete again after both sides remain far apart on the numbers it would take for “Bones” to move up to heavyweight.
Jones has made it clear that he is no hurry for a deal to materialize and that he is enjoying the downtime after over a decade of dominance. White seems to think that resting on his laurels actually isn’t a bad idea. In fact, he believes that if Jones retired today, in many ways, that would be a fitting way to end his career (transcription via Farah Hannoun).
“That’s up to Jon,” White said about Jones fighting again. “He could absolutely fight again at 205 pounds. He said he wouldn’t fight Stipe (Miocic), and now Derrick (Lewis) and Francis (Ngannou) are fighting, so we’ll see how that fight plays out. There’s nothing wrong with going out on top either – Jon Jones is undefeated, he’s never been beat.
“For those people that don’t know, you see that one loss on his record, he didn’t lose that fight. He won that fight in dominant fashion like most of his fights. It was a time when the Nevada Athletic Commission was at its weakest, and there was a referee that shouldn’t have been in there, and he stole that fight from Jon Jones. So, it wouldn’t be a bad thing for him to go out on top.”
Jon Jones is currently 33 and began his MMA career at only 20 years old. Jones would make history in becoming the youngest UFC champion of all time at 23 years old, a record that still stands a full decade later. As champion, Jonny Bones would have a remarkable run as the leader of the light heavyweight pack, and to White’s point, he has never been stopped or lost via decision. Instead, his only stumbles have come outside of the cage, which has prevented Jones from enhancing his already GOAT-caliber résumé.
In a case of irony, Jon Jones’s longest layoff may not be due to any external drama or drug-test issues but might be a self-imposed sitout that could last indefinitely and maybe even into an early retirement.
Do you think Jon Jones should retire on top like Khabib Nurmagomedov did?
