UFC fans have been left wondering whether we will see Jon Jones compete in the UFC again following his title defense against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309.
This past November, Jon Jones made the first defense of his UFC heavyweight title when he controversially took on Stipe Miocic.
After Jones finished Miocic in the third round, he expressed to the UFC fans that he likely wouldn’t retire after that fight and would instead hope to give the fans a fight they want to see.
Of course, the fight the fans want to see most is a title unification fight against interim champion, Tom Aspinall, and although negotiations seemed to be moving in the right direction, things stalled rather quickly.
Dana White provides update on Jon Jones’ UFC future following Aspinall’s comments
Following his title defense, Jones continued to push away a potential fight against Aspinall, claiming that he would instead prefer to fight Alex Pereira because of his starpower.
Ahead of his title defense against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313, Pereira told Bloody Elbow that his offer to train with Jones has been recinded as he believes the two could still end up competing against each other.
During that time, Aspinall has seemingly been left in the lurch, left wondering whether he will end up fighting Jones for the undisputed title.
And with that, Aspinall recently came out and provided an update, stating that the delay in making the fight all falls on the side of Jones as he still hasn’t decided whether he wants to fight the Brit.
UFC boss, Dana White, admitted that if Jones opted against fighting Aspinall, he would strip Jones of the title to allow the division to move forward.
However, White doesn’t think it will come to having to strip ‘Bones’ as he has offered a critical update on the heavyweight champion’s future in the sport.
“Jones will fight anybody, don’t let the internet fool you about Jon Jones,” White told ESPN MMA.
Not only that, but the UFC boss revealed when he expects to see Jones back in the UFC Octagon, giving optimism to the fanbase.
“This summer,” White revealed.
Dana White believes Alex Pereira could take pound-for-pound number one spot
White has continuously campaigned for Jones being the number one pound-for-pound fighter on the planet, however, earlier this year he finally changed his mind and gave that title to Islam Makhachev.
Despite that, with Alex Pereira‘s huge title defense against Magomed Ankalaev just around the corner, White believes ‘Poatan’ could take the top spot considering the threat of the Russian challenger.
“He’s one of the biggest stars in the sport right now, if not the biggest star in the sport right now, and what makes this weekend great is Ankalaev is a very serious threat, probably the toughest fight he’s ever had.
“Alex comes out of this the way he has come out of every other fight, he might be the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world,” White admitted.