If Jon Jones was retired several months ago, it’s definitely news to Dana White.
On Saturday night following UFC 317, White responded to a series of tweets from Jones this past week where he claimed he told the promotion he was done after his win over Stipe Miocic but was repeatedly told to reconsider. Jones acknowledged he did speak to the UFC about potentially setting up a showdown against Tom Aspinall, but he vehemently denied that a deal was ever struck where he agreed to the fight despite White saying the bout was “done” until he suddenly decided to retire from the sport.
“I was told 1,000 times to just reconsider and just give it more time. That’s the truth,” Jones said on Twitter. “If the fight was done, trust me, I would be fighting. Did we start negotiating at one point yes, but [it] was never done. My job at the time was to sit back and be quiet about it and that’s exactly what I did. I was enjoying my life that should’ve been obvious to you guys.”
I was told 1000 times to just reconsider and just give it more time. That’s the truth. https://t.co/LJ5X7MTYtp
— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones) June 27, 2025
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@JonnyBones, Twitter
While he wasn’t necessarily trying to get into a shouting match about the validity of his initial statement, White refuted Jones’ numerous tweets on the subject when asked about it at the UFC 317 post-fight press conference.
“That’s not true,” White said about Jones’ claims he effectively retired this past November. “I’m telling you the truth. Believe who you want to believe.”
White and Jones having differing opinions on how a situation played out between them isn’t exactly new but this might be the last time it ever actually happens.
For his part, White didn’t get agitated or fired up whatsoever when addressing Jones’ claims, but he stands by his statement that the Aspinall fight was good to go until the now-former heavyweight champion changed his mind.
Either way the result was the same with Jones relinquishing the title and retiring from the sport and Aspinall now stands tall as the undisputed heavyweight champion.
As far as what comes next for him, White didn’t want to discuss any possibilities after he was asked about a potential matchup between Aspinall and Ciryl Gane, which appears to be the most likely fight right now.
Aspinall already acknowledged Gane as the fight he’s most interested in but no decisions have been made now that the heavyweight division is moving on from Jones and his reign as champion.
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