Jon Jones, the UFC heavyweight champion, is planning to retire after his upcoming fight against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309, having reiterated this intention during his recent public appearance at UFC 306.
Jon Jones is edging closer to retirement.
The UFC’s reigning heavyweight champion has said on multiple occasions that his next fight—which is now officially booked against Stipe Miocic for the main event of UFC 309 on Nov. 16—could be his last. Jones repeated that stance in his most recent public appearance this past Saturday at UFC 306 at Sphere in Las Vegas, telling Clocked N’ Loaded that he is indeed planning to hang up the gloves after fighting Miocic.
“It’s going to be the last time,” Jones said. “More than likely.”
Jones, 37, captured a vacant heavyweight title with a dominant win over Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in March 2023 and hasn’t fought since. He and Miocic were originally scheduled to fight at the UFC’s annual Madison Square Garden show in New York the following November, but an injury to Jones pushed the bout back a year.
In Jones’ absence, British star Tom Aspinall became interim heavyweight champion after scoring a first-round knockout of Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 (the Aspinall-Pavlovich bout was added to the card after Jones-Miocic was postponed). Aspinall has already defended his share of the heavyweight crown, defeating Curtis Blaydes in just 60 seconds at UFC 304 this past July.
For months, Jones and Aspinall have gone back and forth in interviews and on social media discussing the possible fight, with Jones insisting that the only thing set in stone is that he is fighting Miocic, who holds the record for the most consecutive successful UFC heavyweight title defenses at three. UFC DEO Dana White has also balked at the suggestion that Jones should prioritize a unification bout with Aspinall over the recently announced UFC 309 headliner.
Jones set the record for the youngest fighter to win a UFC title when he defeated Shogun Rua to become light heavyweight champion at just 23 years old. He went on to defend the light heavyweight title 11 times, including eight straight defenses from 2011 to 2015.
In 29 pro bouts, Jones only has one loss via disqualification and never dropped the title in the cage, though he lost it twice: His first run ended when he was stripped of the belt due to his involvement in an April 2015 hit and run that violated the promotion’s athlete conduct policy, and his second was voluntarily vacated amid a contract dispute with White and the UFC in May 2020 and a subsequent move up to heavyweight.