MMA great Jones has retired, UFC president says

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones, considered the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, has retired, UFC president Dana White announced Saturday.

The 37-year-old Jones (28-1) last fought in November, defending his title with a third-round stoppage of Stipe Miocic. The UFC had been working on a unification fight between Jones and interim heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall (15-3).

Aspinall has been elevated to undisputed heavyweight champion, White said at a news conference.

“Jon Jones called us last night and retired,” White said. “Jon Jones is officially retired. Tom Aspinall is the heavyweight champion of the UFC.”

Jones captured the UFC light heavyweight title in 2011, then won the heavyweight crown after a three-year hiatus with a victory over Ciryl Gane in 2023 at T-Mobile Arena.

Jones’ only loss came via a disputed disqualification against Matt Hamill in 2009.

For all his success, Jones has a checkered history of run-ins with law enforcement and two suspensions for failing tests for performance-enhancing drugs.

He was charged with aggravated DWI and negligent use of a firearm in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 2020. Then he was arrested on a domestic battery complaint and charged with tampering with a police vehicle when he headbutted a Metro SUV after the UFC Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Las Vegas in 2021.

Jones had his belt revoked by the UFC as a result of his involvement in a hit-and-run accident in Albuquerque in 2015 when he was charged with a felony for injuring a pregnant woman and purposely leaving the scene of an accident. He eventually pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.

He pleaded no contest to a battery charge in 2019 that stemmed from accusations by a waitress an an Albuquerque strip club that Jones slapped and choked her after she asked him to stop touching her.