Jon Jones has revealed why he is not interested in squaring off with Tom Aspinall.
Since November, the UFC has been trying to make a unification fight between their two heavyweight champions.
An apparent hold-up has led to over 184,000 people signing a petition to strip Jon Jones of his title.
Still, the greatest fighter of all time continues to do everything he can to distance himself from Tom Aspinall.
Jon Jones explains why he won’t fight Tom Aspinall
On Thursday evening, Jon Jones arrived back home in America after filming a reality TV show in Thailand.
Hit by jetlag, ‘Bones’ engaged with fans on social media during the early hours of Friday morning.
After Jones insisted Aspinall is ‘not special’, one confused fan asked why he won’t fight him then.
The 37-year-old referenced his quick submission win over Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 when responding.
“I remember like it was yesterday,” Jones said of his March 2023 heavyweight title win.
“Three years since anyone saw me fight. The mass amount of critics ‘Jones looks so old now, He’s too slow now. Gane going to be too fast, Jones has never faced someone this big, he’s never faced a kickboxer of this caliber.”
“The French and the casuals were convinced Gane was the future of the heavyweight division.
“I showed up. I won. Then? Crickets.”
It appears Jones doesn’t think he’ll get due credit for beating Aspinall, so he won’t fight the Englishman.
Is Jon Jones retired?
Earlier this week, Aspinall claimed Jones is retired to send the MMA world into a spin.
Jones appeared to confirm his retirement during the impromptu fan Q&A session on X.
The UFC Hall of Famer claimed to have gone out ‘on top’ in response to a fan claiming he is ‘scared’ of Aspinall.
“It really has nothing to do with fear,” Jones tweeted.
“The question I asked my close friends and family is how much higher can a person like me climbing this sport.
“The goal for athletes is to build a brand and then take that brand and become so much more than an athlete.
“A lot of the fans and fighters are not used to seeing someone go out on top the way I have.
“I get that it’s uncomfortable and I don’t expect people to understand territories that they’ve never been.”