UFC heavyweight kingpin, Jon Jones has once more hinted at an even longer hiatus away from action this year continued, admitting he is unsure if he is actually retired from combat sports or not.
Jones, a current heavyweight champion in the promotion, has been sidelined since his return to action last November, landing a third round spinning back-kick to the body knockout win over the returning former two-time gold holder, Stipe Miocic.
And in the time since, a title unification pairing with interim champion, Tom Aspinall looms incredibly large.
Yet to book a showcase against the Atherton native this year, amid claims from UFC CEO, Dana White that he is “very confident” of penning the bout, Jon Jones is currently on a tour of Asia.
Jon Jones unsure if he is done fighting in the UFC
Doing nothing to quell the concerns of Aspinall this week, Jon Jones addressed his fighting future on social media — claiming he is unsure what will come next for him, or when he would actually step foot in the Octagon again.
“I don’t know if I wanna call it retired,” Jon Jones posted on Twitter. “I feel like I’ll always have an ability to pop out and show em. I’ve had many breaks throughout my career, my identity outside of fighting is well intact. I’m genuinely enjoying life, I’m growing in different ways.”
Jones’ comments come off the back of claims from various fans — and even pundits to boot, that he is “ducking” a title showdown with British favorite, Aspinall.
This has since been denied by the former pound-for-pound number one, who insisted he was just living his best life.
Following his win over Miocic to boot last year, Jones claimed he would require “f*ck you” money to make another appearance in the promotion, after claiming Aspinall and his vocal nature was “annoying” to him.
“He’s annoying to me. He’s annoying to me and that’s my own personal—he annoys me. I get it you guys find it entertaining, but I find him annoying. I just don’t like him and at the end of the day, if I give him the opportunity to fight me, I want to be so compensated-I want to say it, I want that ‘f–k you’ money, honestly. That’s just what it is. Or else my life is perfect without him. I don’t need him at all and he needs me and that’s a good place to be in a negotiation.”
