Jon Jones explains waiting game before UFC retirement, rips ‘trolls’

UFC 309: Jones v Miocic - Press Conference — Jon Jones | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Jon Jones wants to give his side of the Tom Aspinall story.

The former two-division UFC champion recently retired at the age of 37, leaving behind an incredible legacy inside the cage but several question marks outside of it, including an ongoing feud with Tom Aspinall that will now go unresolved (at least, for now). Jones, who was recognized as the UFC’s undisputed heavyweight champion prior to retirement, was heavily criticized for not agreeing to fight Aspinall, the longtime interim champion who has now been promoted to undisputed status with Jones out of the picture.

On Friday, Jones published a series of tweets addressing the situation and denying any responsibility for the heavyweight clash not happening.

“If the fight was done, trust me, I would be fighting,” Jones wrote in a since-deleted tweet. “Did we start negotiating at one point yes, but if I was never done. My job at the time was to sit back and be quiet about it and that’s exactly what I did. I was enjoying my life that should’ve been obvious to you guys.”

It should be noted Jones publicly commented on his feud with Aspinall on multiple occasions, including once leaving a vulgar reply in an Aspinall Instagram post.

Jones later added, “I was told 1,000 times to just reconsider and just give it more time. That’s the truth.”

I was told 1000 times to just reconsider and just give it more time. That’s the truth. https://t.co/LJ5X7MTYtp

— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones) June 27, 2025

According to UFC CEO Dana White, Jones vs. Aspinall was a done deal, but it was Jones who “changed his mind” and decided to retire instead. Aspinall, for his part, has insisted that while he’d still welcome a fight with Jones someday, he is focusing on defending the heavyweight title against any active contender.

Jones fired off several more tweets Friday, defending his legacy and responding to online commenters.

I’m retired and allegedly have gotten in trouble again. Here’s your chance to be a harder worker than I am, this is your opportunity, let’s see what you do with it. https://t.co/1xxF8OM9Dn

— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones) June 27, 2025

I was retired last November and I’ve been working nonstop, I’m actually working harder now that I’m not fighting, but it’s so much fun. No more sweating, just using my personality and giving fans all the love that I can. Sounds like a pretty good gig. https://t.co/kekz6PEys0

— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones) June 27, 2025

I’m in the entertainment game, this stuff is like WWE to me. Trolls want you to have a shitty reality, then when they really think about it, it makes them mad all over again. https://t.co/VZWjpu9TwW

— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones) June 27, 2025

Tom Brady LeBron James, you name them. Very rarely can you be really good at something and I have a bunch of people thinking how they would’ve done things differently. Even Muhammad Ali was absolutely hated by everyone at one point in his life. It comes with a territory. They… https://t.co/arbmgn6kZe

— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones) June 27, 2025

I wasn’t even going to go there, but yes, you get it. https://t.co/hWpExKsCkU

— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones) June 27, 2025

You can be promoted to manager at your local car wash and start to fill an increase of hate. It’s just the nature of the beast. https://t.co/wz1rfDYpai

— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones) June 27, 2025

I think one of the most interesting skills to master in fighting is the art of staying calm. The more comfortable and calm you become in that octagon, that’s when it really starts to get fun for you. Example prime Anderson Silva. It allows you to start to see everything coming. https://t.co/bcEnkxWIJa

— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones) June 27, 2025

I have one more championships than both of those guys combined, even those two themselves would condone me hanging up the gloves https://t.co/Lcb3qqQP78

— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones) June 27, 2025

Jon Jones explains waiting game before UFC retirement, rips ‘trolls’

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