Jon Jones remains an enigma when it comes to his future in the UFC.
The reigning heavyweight champion has the entire combat sports world waiting with bated breath to find out if he’s actually going to compete again with a highly anticipated showdown against Tom Aspinall still lingering in the air. Most recently, UFC CEO Dana White said he expected to have a definitive answer on Jones vs. Aspinall in “the next couple of weeks’ and if the fight isn’t finalized, the promotion plans to move forward on a different matchup right away.
While his latest interview was conducted prior to those comments, Jones sounded very uninterested in booking a fight right now against anybody.
“I don’t want to say that I’m retired because fighting’s in my blood,” Jones told the Full Send podcast. “Right now, I could really care less about fighting. I’ve been doing it my whole life at a very high level and when the itch comes back — and if it comes back — then I’ll do it with my whole heart, do it to the best of my abilities.
“But right now, I look around and realize what’s true, what’s real. I see the way people look at me and the way I make people feel and it’s an extraordinary thing. It’s a true blessing. Now my job is to serve that, give that to my fans, be reachable, touchable. Let them know what I have inside. That’s who I am right now. I’ve punched and kicked enough people.”
As far as Aspinall goes, Jones actually paid him a compliment but also issued a rather chilling warning to the UFC’s interim heavyweight champion — be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.
“I think he’s awesome,” Jones said about Aspinall. “I think he should go on and have a wonderful career.
“No, I don’t think he needs me. I think when want something bad enough and if you get it, it can be the worst thing that ever happened to you.”
It’s a bit of a mixed message from Jones when it comes to his fighting future because as much as it appears that he’s not rushing back to the octagon, he’s seemingly heard the constant callouts and comments from Aspinall.
In his most recent tirade, Aspinall went as far as claiming that that Jones was already retired and he declared himself the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion.
That said, Jones knows whatever he says is going to make headlines and nothing happens by accident when he’s addressing Aspinall or his future in the sport.
“I love being the ultimate troll,” Jones said. “I’m in a spot right now where I’m really enjoying the fruits of my labor. All the hard work that I put in. He’s not in a position to excite me. It’s just the truth.
“Because if I whoop his ass, it’s going to be the next guy. There’s going to be a whole new fan base of somebody who everybody believes in. I’ve done this my whole adult life. I remember ‘Rampage’ [Quinton Jackson] fans years ago, Rashad [Evans] fans and Lyoto [Machida] fans, I’ve literally replayed this story so many times in my life.”
Of course, Jones has seen the blowback from fans about the continued wait about whether or not he’s going to ultimately fight Aspinall in a matchup that could be the biggest fight in the history of the UFC heavyweight division.
From online petitions asking the UFC to strip the title away from him to calls for his retirement, Jones has heard it all but he has no problem weathering the storm.
“I’m a company guy and there’s a lot of things that’s happening behind the scenes where my job is just to sit and be still and take the punishment,” Jones said.
“My job for the UFC is to do what’s right for the company. I could easily just say I’m not fighting. My job is to chill and that’s what I’m doing.”
For all the questions about his future, Jones eventually confessed that he does expect to compete again but there’s no timeline when that might actually happen. It’s likely that response is the one that’s going to get under Aspinall’s skin the most.
“I think I will fight again in the future,” Jones said. “I think I will fight again. Where the future of combat sports is going, it’s going to be amazing when I pop back up. But right now I’m just focused on so many other things like family, like building my house, like building this brand.”
Jon Jones Cites His Own Relationship With Dana White
Ngannou competed in two boxing matches before he knocked out Renan Ferreira in his first PFL fight last October, and in the immediate aftermath of his UFC exit White was less than commentary of the promotion’s former heavyweight champion.
Jones hasn’t always been White’s favorite fighter during a Hall of Fame-worthy career that’s unfortunately been marred by various controversies, and the 37-year-old went on to say that he’s a perfect example of how White’s opinion of someone can change over time.
“I feel like I’m an example of like – people they grow, they mature, and time changes things. Time heals all. There were moments in my career where I felt like Dana absolutely hated me, and now I feel like he’s a big advocator for me.”
A Jones vs. Ngannou heavyweight clash was high on many fans’ wish lists before the latter fighter moved on to the PFL, and perhaps “Bones” is waiting to see if that matchup could still be a possibility while he continues frustrating the fans that want to see him return to action this year and face Aspinall.
In for Jon Jones in BKFC in a decade or so.
“But right now, I look around at what’s true and what’s real. I see the way people look at me and how I make people feel, and it’s an extraordinary thing. It’s a true blessing. Now my job is to serve that – to give that to my fans, be reachable, be touchable, to let them know who I am inside. That’s who I am right now.”
UFC CEO Dana White recently said Jones agreed to fight Aspinall, but the paperwork is yet to be signed. But that’s been a steady story for months and months. White also said this week if Jones’ stalling continues, a decision will have to be made.
Jones also talked about his relationship with White and the potential for former UFC heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou to return to the promotion in the segment (link above).
All good you do you, live your best life.
But if youre not going to fight, then vacate the belt. Stop being selfish and holding up the division. Give others the opportunity to be great.
Thomas’ view on Jones vs Aspinall
“It’s got to be Jon Jones,” Thomas told MMA Junkie. “I think all this nonsense is just marketing. I think it’s marketing to keep it out there, to make it even bigger. Every show I’ve done, we talked more about Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall. We’ve talked about a fight that wasn’t even signed more than fights that happened, and I think that was done purposely.
“I think Jon Jones is going to fight. He has to. There’s no way he goes this route, does all this, and then not fight. I think it’s all marketing to keep it out there, to make it even bigger, and bigger, and bigger, and this is going to end up getting signed, and then it’s going to be the big fight the UFC needs to close out the year.”
“It’s the right strategy, too, because think about this: If the plan was to have them fight in November or December, and we announced it in February, no one would talk about it until then. We get tired of talking about it, but the idea of Jon Jones hinting around, Tom Aspinall calling him a duck, it just really kept us dangling.
“It just kept that carrot dangling in front of us, and we’d reach for it, and then we go, ‘Oh.’ Then they bring it back out and we reach for it and we go, ‘Oh.’ But I think now’s about the time where they can make it a really strong announcement and we go, ‘Yes!’ It’s like a movie.”
Jon walked off the nelk boys podcast after 20 minutes. The question that did the trick?
“What would it take from the UFC for you to fight Tom Aspinal?” Jon said that was out of pocket, gets up and leaves. 
