Despite being left off the June 14th UFC White House card, some still expected that Jones would eventually return to the Octagon, however according to Jones, that won’t be the case as he has signaled his retirement once again.
“My gloves are hung up, I’m chilling these days,”
“You have ‘Business Jon Jones’, no more fighter Jon Jones. The businessman,” Jones
Earlier this year, after a long back-and-forth negotiation to defend his heavyweight title against Tom Aspinall, Jones abruptly retired, but this was short-lived as he immediately threw his hat back in the ring after this summer’s UFC White House card (aka UFC Freedom 250) was announced. Since the beginning of Jones’ push to get a spot on the card, Dana White was adamant that wouldn’t be the case, which came into reality when the full six-fight card was revealed back in March.
Back in March, the full six-fight UFC Freedom 250 card was revealed, but Jones’ name did not appear, and instead there was an interim heavyweight title match between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane on the list. Following the announcement, White indicated that Jones was never in the running for a spot on the card. Jones, however, tells the story differently and mentions there were multiple negotiations surrounding his appearance in the octagon for the monumental event.
Following the disagreement, Jones called for his release from the promotion, which made it quite obvious where his head was at. Now, Jones made things even more clear, stating that he is no longer a fighter, but a business person instead. In recent months, he has been heavily involved in the development of rising MMA prospect Gable Steveson, continued his work as co-owner of Dirty Boxing Championship (DBX), and most recently has become a global ambassador for the IBA Bare Knuckle league.