Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones has said the gloves are up after failing in his bid to return at the White House card.
Jones retired last year while the Heavyweight Champion, having refused to face Interim Champion Tom Aspinall, who was then promoted to Undisputed Champion. While active he had said he wanted to face Alex Pereira and had earned the opportunity to choose his opponents.
Then ahead of the card announcement for UFC Freedom 250 at the White House, Jones said he was in negotiations to return on the card. Pereira was announced to be fighting Ciryl Gane for the Interim Heavyweight title and Jones was nowhere to be found, and Dana White later said that talks were never happening and as far as he was concerned Jones was done.
Jones later said that negotiations were in place but he was lowballed, asking for his release if the true belief is that he is done. And though nothing has emerged to say he has been released, Jones has since dialed up his ambassadorial duties for IBA Bareknuckle and Dirty Boxing.
During an interview with “Red Corner MMA” around the first IBA event of his new role, Jones said definitively that the gloves were up and he’s no longer a fighter but a businessman.
“No,” he said when asked if he was considering a move to bare knuckle boxing, “right now, I’m just enjoying life. We’re here for these fighters. Want to see these guys do their thing and have a lot of fun… My gloves are up. I’m chilling these days. You got business Jon Jones. No more fighter Jon Jones. The businessman. You know what I’m saying?”
Jones is at a Dirty Boxing event in Miami currently, having been pictured ahead of the event alongside Tristan and Andrew Tate.
Read the full article here
