Following his exceptional win over Stipe Miocic at the UFC 309, Jon Jones recant his statement about retiring. The heavyweight champion had spoken about retiring prior to his fight with Miocic, but his win has awakened the warrior in him.
Jones has doubled down on his Alex Pereira callout and says he is open to facing Alex Pereira in a BMF title bout. The heavyweight champ has had the fight on his mind for quite some time, but there is a high chance that fight may never see the light of day as he still has one more opponent to face,
Interim heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall has had his eyes on the champ for a while and has constantly sought a fight with Jones, but he has been consistently turned down. Jones believes he owes no obligation to the UFC to face Aspinall. He says Aspinall should have never been given the title in the first place, and the promotion should have waited for him to recover from his injury.
“He’s annoying to me,” Jones said. “He’s annoying to me, and that’s my personal—he annoys me. I get it you guys find it entertaining, but I find him annoying. I just don’t like him. And at the end of the day, if I give him the opportunity to fight me, I want to be so compensated-I want to say it, I want that ‘f*ck you’ money, honestly. That’s just what it is.
“Or else my life is perfect without him. I don’t need him at all, and he needs me, and that’s a good place to be in a negotiation.”
As much as Jones doesn’t want this fight, it seems he will have to get through it. UFC CEO Dana White recently spoke about the heavyweight champ and said if the fighter does not retire after his fight with Stipe Miocic, he would have to face Jones because “it is what fans want.”
“I’m not really worried about the Tom fight,” Jones said. “I’m really worried about the Pereira fight. That’s what I want to do. I think if the UFC wants to have me back, then I think that’s the fight they’ll make. I’ve been really clear about my intentions. That’s what I want.
“I just feel like anybody would understand at this point. Like, I’ll retire the heavyweight belt if I have to. Give the guy what he wants at the end of the day. I’m not talking about Dana directly. I want to take what I find to be super fights. I don’t want to fight dangerous up-and-comers anymore. And, I want to fight dangerous, established champions. So Tom can have the heavyweight championship. I don’t really care about it. My value doesn’t lie in belts anymore. I’ve created something bigger. I want Pereira.”
Despite the fans clamoring for a battle between the two heavyweight champs, Jones is still adamant about his decision to face Pereira. “Bones” believes the fight is the best way to go, and it’d be a bigger addition to his legacy. Jones believes he is in control of his career and gets a say on his opponent and who he wants to face. The UFC lightweight champion Alex Pereira has been making rounds in the promotion as he has held championship titles in two divisions.
“Styles make matchups,” Jones said. “I’m sure Pereira’s knocked out many heavyweights in his day. He has knockout power that’s bigger than weight. Pereira’s special, and for me, it would just be worth my while fighting against Pereira. People can call me ‘a duck’ and ‘a chicken,’ I’m going to go home and cash a massive check. The duck and chicken thing is kind of funny.
“That’s kind of what I want. If it doesn’t line up, then professing my love for Jesus in front of everybody tonight and telling the world how proud I am to be an American champion and fighting in front of [President Elect Donald Trump], man, if that was my last fight ever than I’m cool with that. That was the one to do it. … I think one of the really good things about negotiating is being willing to walk away from a deal, and that’s the deal that I want. If that’s not what the fans want, then I guess I’ll say, ‘Sayonara.’”
Jones’ recent victory over Stipe Miocic was well deserved as the fighter was making a much-needed comeback. His prior fighter before this was at UFC 285 in March 2023, where he defeated Ciryl Gane for the vacant championship.
