The majority of the UFC fanbase is happy that Jon Jones has finally retired from the sport but it has left some people confused.
After several months of delaying a potential UFC heavyweight title unification fight against Tom Aspinall, this past Saturday it was finally announced by Dana White that Jon Jones has officially retired.
Despite Jon Jones being widely regarded as the greatest fighter of all time, the news came as a relief to the majority of the fanbase as he has held up the heavyweight division for over a year now.
Having been upgraded to the undisputed heavyweight champion, Aspinall has set himself a huge goal to become the greatest heavyweight of all time, vowing to be an active champion.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLCDemetrious Johnson reacts to Jon Jones’ UFC retirement
One of the reasons why ‘Bones’ is widely regarded as the greatest fighter of all time is because of his impressive resume, having cleared out several generations of the best fighters.
However, Jones’ UFC career was continuously full of controversy having been suspended several times for failed drug tests and his antics outside of the cage.
Although the 37-year-old retired with one loss on his record, it was his controversial disqualification loss to Matt Hamill, which many fans don’t deem a true loss.
Despite that, one of the other fighters who is considered as one of the greatest of all time, Demetrious Johnson, deems Jones’ loss as a legit loss and thinks it should come into the GOAT debate.
Reacting to Jones’ official retirement, ‘Mightymouse’ has admitted that he is confused why he didn’t fight Aspinall in a final fight.
“Deep down inside, I think Jon Jones after he beat Stipe Miocic, I think he was totally down to fight Tom Aspinall, and I think Jones asked the UFC for $30m thinking the UFC was not going to give that to him,” Johnson said in a video on his YouTube channel.
“Maybe this whole night bender and mushrooms with this chick changed his whole mindset… But this is the thing we will never know… We’ll never hear from Jones’ mouth on why he didn’t take the Tom fight.
“Jones, I don’t understand why he didn’t fight him and if Jones was like, ‘Dude I wasn’t gonna fight him, he’s young, he’s athletic, he’s dangerous, I don’t wanna risk my legacy’, perfect, that’s all I need to hear.
“He retires and there’s this cloud over his head… You ask the casuals, they’re not gonna know about the stripped belts, the loss to Matt Hamill, (the suspensions),” Johnson continued.
Daniel Cormier shares rare praise for Jon Jones
Although some fighters are still confused regarding Jones’ retirement, he has gained the praise of his biggest rival, Daniel Cormier.
Jones and Cormier were involved in one of the biggest rivalries in the sport’s history and they have a deep-rooted hatred for each other.
Despite that, following Jones’ retirement, Cormier praised Jones and claimed he will always respect the former champion for his skills.