Jon Jones’ sudden departure has left many fans wanting more, including ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith.

The sports pundit spoke about Jones’ retirement on First Take, praising “Bones” for his accomplishments and incredible talent, but criticizing him for avoiding the one man everyone wanted to see him fight: Now-undisputed heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.

Jones vs. Aspinall will remain of MMA’s great ‘What if?’ matchups for the foreseeable future following Jones hanging up the gloves at 37. The heavyweight stars seemed destined for an in-cage collision with Jones claiming a vacant title at UFC 285 and Aspinall an interim title at UFC 295 and both fighters later successfully defending those belts. However, Jones repeatedly shot down the possibility of a unification bout, citing a lack of interest in fighting Aspinall, who he didn’t deem to be a worthy opponent.

Smith doesn’t agree with Jones walking away without settling the score with the clear-cut No. 1 contender.

“I’m not going to accuse the greatest mixed martial artist I have ever seen in my life, Jon ‘Bones’ Jones, I have that much admiration for him or whatever,” Smith said. “Having said that, I’m incredibly, incredibly disappointed with this news.

“Here’s what I want to say to Jon ‘Bones’ Jones. He’s absolutely phenomenal. He’s the real deal. He’s one of those dudes that a guy like Aspinall—he’s been on the record saying [Aspinall] just irritates me, annoys me, he doesn’t even want to be asked about Tom Aspinall during interviews—well, now with your retirement, Aspinall is the undisputed heavyweight champion. My point is if you are a fighter, which he is at a very elite level, and that’s the fight that people want to see, give us the fight that we want to see.”

Most troubling to Smith is that the heavyweight championship clash seemed to be served up on a silver platter to the UFC. But by all accounts, the matchup never happening falls solely on Jones’ shoulders and Smith questions why Jones couldn’t find the motivation to knock off one more rival.

“What do we complain about with boxing?” Smith said. “We complain about promoters and others getting in the way of getting us the fights that we want to see when we want to see it. Jon ‘Bones’ Jones is literally this kind of person. If you get on his nerves, one of two things will happen: He’ll want to kick your ass, which he’s fully capable of doing and does at an elite level, or he’ll say, ‘The hell with you. I’m not going to give you the privilege of fighting me,’ because that fighter annoys him as opposed to looking at the audience out here spanning millions and millions of people, who recognize your greatness and want to see you against this guy who’s been calling you out for the longest time.

“Handle it. Handle it, then retire if you want to, but don’t retire because guess what, there’s not really a fight out there that you’re interested in. This guy irritates you so the hell with it, I’m not going to give him the privilege to fight me. It ain’t about that. That audience out there who loves you, who recognizes your unquestionable greatness, we want to see you handle this guy.”

Though all parties involved appear to have moved on from the feud—especially with Jones having more pressing legal matters to deal with—Smith believes White is still open to seeing Jones and Aspinall meet inside the octagon.

“Dana White would make that fight tomorrow if Jon ‘Bones’ Jones wants to do it,” Smith said. “We want to see it, so I’m disappointed to hear this news, because Jon ‘Bones’ Jones is just too great.”

TOP STORIES

Roundtable. Ilia Topuria fights for a second title at UFC 317. But should he be careful what he wished for?

Bye. Fans react to Jon Jones’ retirement—and not everyone is shedding tears over the news.

Egads. Jones’ lawyer is “stunned” by his client’s latest criminal charges.

GOAT. Andrei Arlovski sliced a dude’s face up at BKFC 76.

Fine. Dana White says Francis Ngannou ain’t coming back to the UFC and Ngannou has no problem with that.

Real. Joaquin Buckley made no excuses for his loss to Kamaru Usman at UFC Atlanta.

Really real. Kevin Lee had his jaw wired shut after brutal PFL 6 knockout loss.

VIDEO STEW

Did Jones’ retirement really just get announced at a UFC Baku post-fight press conference???

MMA Fighting’s José Youngs catches up with Diego Lopes at Fanatics Fest.

Moving on from ducks to clay pigeons.

UFC 317 Countdown.

UFC Embedded.

Ilia Topuria’s UFC journey thus far.

FLAVOR IN YOUR EAR

On To the Next One. MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee recap a dreary UFC Baku card, discuss how close Khalil Rountree is to another title shot, plus matchups for the rest of the main card’s big winners.

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

The best knockouts of the week.

Banger.

Attention, fighters:

Very cool.

Hear him out.

The champ champ champ champ champ…

Yes.

Get ‘er in there!

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Nassourdine Imavov (16-4, 1 NC) vs. Caio Borralho (17-1, 1 NC); UFC Paris, Sept. 6

Reug Reug (7-1) vs. Anatoly Malykhin (14-1) 2; ONE 173, Nov. 16

FINAL THOUGHTS

Why does it feel like Jon Jones retiring somehow means I’m going to have to hear about Jon Jones more than ever?

EXIT POLL

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