Why Jon Jones, Dana White and UFC deserve equal blame for the failed Tom Aspinall fight and ensuing retirement

If there was a coherent thing about the largely inactive race of Jon Jones as the second heavyweight champion by reigning in the history of the UFC, it is that the goat in the mixed martial arts wanted nothing to do with the fight against the interim holder Tom Aspinall.

It only took until today, some 840 days after Jones became a champion with two divisions by defeating Cyril Gane for the vacant title of heavy goods vehicles, for the president / chief executive officer of the UFC, Dana White, to believe it publicly.

In one of the most disappointing moments in the illustrious history of the UFC to force its best fighters to fight due to the monopolistic control of the promotion industry, White announced on Saturday that Jones, 37, informed him of his decision to withdraw despite the record money on the table for a fight of unification against Aspinall which was more than two years.

Jon Jones retires: the president of the UFC, Dana White, announces the end of the legendary career; Tom Aspinall now complete champion

Brian Campbell

Unlike other major UFC withdrawals in recent years, there was no video package to accompany the latest news from White or any celebration of everything Jones had accomplished throughout his 17 -year professional career. In fact, the announcement took place in the middle of the night, while White, whose appearances during these events have become anything but recently, sat with journalists at the other end of the world at the press conference after the fight after the UFC inaugural visit to Bakou, Azerbaijan.

White looked significantly unhappy but still very composed when he announced that Aspinall had been raised to an undisputed champion despite the fact that the 32 -year -old heavy goods vehicle in England, not to mention the division as a whole, had been so unjustly suspended so that White could play the fragile ego of “bones” for two years by placing it best for the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world In the world in the world in the world in the world in the world in the world.

All that white could say when asked if he regretted the negative benefits which had just allowed Jones so dizzyingly: “If you look at this [Jones] accomplished in this sport, no. It’s like that. ”

If anything, the impact of Jones’ announcement looked like the final straw for all demanding UFC fans who retained their complaints as long as possible in 2025 despite the sweetened matchmaking and the foolish price of tickets in the middle of a season during which promotion and his parent company, TKO Global, were furiously negotiated which were furiously negotiated per year.

The problem in this situation is that there is really not a person or an organization that deserves all the blame. If anything, the saddest part on this subject is that everyone deserves it a little too.

Jones could easily have moved away after the injury he suffered immediately after defeating Gane, which led to a 20 -month layoff in which he was never stripped of the title. He could also have done the same thing last November when the UFC gave a completely useless defending defense against a former 41 -year -old champion in Stipe Miocic who had not fought for three years (and had not won since 2020).

Instead, Jones has maintained the illusion that the fight was still possible, even if it regularly talked about the commercial value of Aspinall and the lack of curriculum vitae in a damaging manner also inherited which has led certain members of the media and criticism (like me) to suggest that Jones negotiates publicly for more money or (even worse) collusion with UFC to delay the advertisement broadcasting be (even worse).

However, none of this seems to be true, even after White declared publicly after the UFC 316 in June that Jones had already accepted the Aspinal fight. And that is why the UFC and White deserve as much blame as Jones to tease the fans, keep business and make fun of the championship itself.

If you are looking for a historical precedent in this case, there are also many.

The female female champion of the inaugural UFC, Germaine de Randamie, will never be confused with Jones in the history books, but her title of title 2017 ended after only four months when she was stripped for having refused to defend her title against Cris Cyborg outside the fears concerning allegations of drugs improving performance. Nicco Montano, inaugural champion of the weights of female flies, was also unfairly stripped of her title in 2018 immediately after his withdrawal from a defense of the title because of his hospitalization following a difficult weight drop.

Jones, just as when it was rendered by the UFC in December 2018, when concerns about a faulty drug testing test for their champion in defense of light heavyweights led to the Decision of the UFC 232 which is moved from Las Vegas to Los Angeles during the Christmas week to only a few days of notice and at its own speed.

The UFC did not simply spoil the patience and tolerance of its own fans base while stealing an important part of the combat and gain power of Aspinall, it also modified innaturally its own heavy history by winning if at random the division and the best put in place of its best competitors.

However, because his hands are also dirty in this situation, White could have turned bad news on Saturday in the optimistic hope of another superfight on the horizon if he had dropped a selfish resentment against Francis Ngannou and entertained the idea of ​​welcoming the former heavy goods vehicle champion once his PFL contract will expire in order to provide in advance with the career fight he has just lost.

Instead, White has chosen to put her personal beef surrounding Ngannou’s decision two years ago to leave the promotion and seek a free agency (which conveniently opened the door to Jones to return from a three-year retirement) before the alert of the idea that their satisfaction in modern times was down to the list below that the contracts of Fetaire Gratisseau contracts of the need for the need in the need in the drop in the list below that the overall contracts were priority, in the list of fat city contracts or the need, in what was prayed in the list of global contracts cited or which have been priority in the list of Fat City contracts or the need, in what was prayed Weekly (come and haute water).

“One thing that I have learned over the years on Francis is that Francis does not always mean what he says publicly,” said White. “What he says behind the scenes is different from what he says publicly. I am not a big fan. I would be shocked if Francis returned here, at a lot of different levels. I am not a fan and that he does not always mean what he says publicly.”

Two years ago, Aspinall said in an appearance in the podcast with Michael Bisping and Anthony Smith that he “will withdraw Jon Jones without even fighting him”. Very little would have guessed that we would be here, adding Jones-Ngannou, Jones-Aspinall and Ngannou-Aspinall to the short list of UFC dream fights which failed to materialize, alongside Randy Couture-Fedor Emelianenko, Brock Lesnar-Emelianenko and Anderson Silva-Georges St. Pierre.

During all the time and money that the white TKO and colleagues’ brass has spent in the past year stretching their combat sports tentacles in other potential attempts to take control of monopsy such as Pro Wrestling, Boxing, Jiu-Jitsu and Power Slap, they made it possible to create stars of crossroads and breathtaking superflicts in their bread and decline.

TKO continues to act as if he believed that the UFC can be operated these days when reality is, it flows slowly into the soil.