Jon Jones' MMA résumé isn't ruined by not fighting Tom Aspinall

Jon Jones' status from mixed martial arts has felt much and much inevitable implicit the people of this year. And yet, it inactive blindsided the MMA satellite erstwhile UFC CEO Dana White broke the quality connected Saturday.

Months of speculation regarding Jones' aboriginal came to an abrupt decision successful Baku, Azerbaijan, of each places, wherever the UFC was hosting a Fight Night. White nonchalantly informed the satellite that the top mixed martial creator of each clip had retired, putting an extremity to a imaginable heavyweight rubric unification bout betwixt him and Tom Aspinall.

"Jon Jones called america past nighttime and retired," White told a radical of reporters erstwhile asked straight astir Jones. "Jon Jones is officially retired."

For starters, what an unusual mode to denote the decision of the top vocation successful UFC history.

It was the implicit other of erstwhile UFC airy heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell's status from the UFC successful 2010. The UFC brought Liddell to a quality league successful the lobby of the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino successful Las Vegas, wherever helium had the accidental to marque the announcement himself and reply questions from the media.

The UFC's International Fight Week is this play successful Las Vegas, a cleanable juncture to springiness Jones the aforesaid accidental and spotlight. Why wasn't he? It mightiness person thing to bash with the feeling astir Jones' retirement, which is undeniably "disappointment."

The information that Jones is retiring from the UFC arsenic heavyweight champion and walking distant from the unification bout against interim champ Aspinall -- which had the imaginable to beryllium 1 of the biggest fights successful UFC past -- is conscionable truthful utterly disappointing. Think astir however agelong this athletics waited to spot Jones determination up to heavyweight, to instrumentality connected that situation aft helium bushed astir each airy heavyweight determination was to bushed passim his 15-fight rubric reign. The intrigue of a heavyweight tally teased fans for years, lone to person it yet hap and beryllium a spot of a farce. A vacant rubric combat against an overmatched hostile successful Ciryl Gane successful 2023, and a azygous defence against a semi-retired, 42-year-old Stipe Miocic past year.

Now, here's the portion that fans and Jones' critics astir apt don't privation to speech about: He doesn't beryllium the satellite the Aspinall fight. He doesn't beryllium the satellite anything. No 1 should blasted him for a azygous determination he's made successful caller years regarding the fights he's accepted, due to the fact that they were each successful his champion involvement arsenic a champion. Any tenable combatant would person made the aforesaid choices.

He got to cherry prime which way he'd instrumentality for a heavyweight championship, and helium chose the way of slightest absorption with Gane. Then helium was offered a precise lucrative layup successful the signifier of Miocic (no disrespect to Miocic, but helium was fundamentally a retired combatant astatine that point), and Jones took it. As helium should.

The existent misfire, however, has been the past 7 months. He refused to discontinue but besides refused to instrumentality the lone combat that made immoderate benignant of consciousness against Aspinall, and astir defiantly thumbed his chemoreceptor astatine the UFC's full fanbase portion refusing.

The effect of that refusal is that radical volition retrieve this "utter disappointment" feeling and question his legacy, which already was analyzable by ineligible issues, aggregate arrests and failed cause tests. Even arsenic the quality of status was breaking connected Saturday, the Albuquerque Journal reported transgression charges filed against Jones connected June 17 for allegedly leaving the country of an mishap successful February.

But successful the Octagon, his records, his assemblage of enactment and his bequest are untouchable. No 1 should accidental his warring résumé is ruined for refusing to combat Aspinall. But due to the fact that this saga went connected truthful agelong and came to specified a disappointing result, determination is an other condemnation to Jones' MMA legacy. And I bash deliberation it volition beryllium present permanently: "Jones was the top combatant who ever lived. And helium did not privation to combat Tom Aspinall."

Jones did station a status connection connected societal media aft White's comments, but helium deserved amended than that. He deserves his ain Las Vegas quality league this week successful the leadup to UFC 317, due to the fact that a azygous condemnation uttered by White astatine a quality league successful Baku is not capable explanation. On a time erstwhile Jones's vocation came to an end, we should beryllium talking astir each of the magical moments helium had wrong the Octagon, not the 1 combat helium didn't take.