Jon Jones’ fighting days might finally be over.
The former two-division UFC champion and all-time great light heavyweight has competed sporadically since 2019, logging just three fights since then and briefly retiring in 2025. Jones, 38, went back on his retirement talk for the chance to be part of the UFC White House event, but CEO Dana White was quick to shoot down Jones’ participation, citing his past unreliability.
Jones had hoped to be in a heavyweight title bout against Alex Pereira on the June
14 card and publicly requested for the UFC to release him after White claimed there were never any substantial negotiations between the fighter and the promotion.
Now, Jones appears to have stepped back from competition for good.
“My gloves are hung up. I’m chilling these days,” Jones told Red Corner MMA in a YouTube vlog. “You’ve got business Jon Jones, no more fighter Jon Jones. The businessman, you know what I’m saying?”
Jones was in this past weekend as a special guest for an IBA Bare Knuckle event headlined by fellow UFC veteran Yoel Romero vs. Vagab Vagabov. When Romero suggested Jones book a bare-knuckle fight if he’s no longer interested in MMA, Jones shot that idea down as well.
“I don’t think I can do it,” Jones said. “I don’t want to get punched. I don’t want to get punched.”
“More brutal is the knee in the face and the elbow in the face,” Romero said. “A hundred percent. This, no. This [points to his elbow] is danger.”
“I can’t do it, still,” Jones said.
Jones has not fought since defending the UFC heavyweight title with a win over Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November 2024. It was just his second fight at heavyweight, following a lengthy run over the light heavyweight division that included two championship reigns and 11 successful title defenses.
