On the brink of a record-setting run as UFC heavyweight champion, the inactive Jon Jones cannot come close to comparisons to Cain Velasquez’s tenure, according to some unhappy fans.
Jones, a former light heavyweight champion to boot, is fast approaching another record during his long-time, and quite frankly, decorated run in the Octagon.
First scooping heavyweight gold back in 2023, Jones won vacant spoils with a dominant guillotine choke win over Ciryl Gane. But fighting just once since then — and twice in his entire heavyweight tenure, all while refusing to engage with the interim champion Tom Aspinall has majorly triggered fans. So much so that a petition to strip him of the title with tens of thousands of signatures has already gone viral.
Interestingly, at the time of publication, Jones sits just 58 days away from Velasquez’s 896-day reign as the UFC heavyweight champion.
Hoping to usurp the Salinas veteran, Jones has come under fire for sitting on his hands — and remaining inactive. Especially while a title unification fight with Aspinall remains bookable.
And of course, fans have revolted — again urging UFC brass to finally strip Jones of his portion of the heavyweight championship. Particularly before that record is broken.
“You can’t compare these 2,” A user posted on Instagram this week.
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A second user even went as far as to comment, “The most disputed champ in UFC history,” in reference to Jones’ refusal to fight anyone of importance.
“Everyone with half a brain knows this doesn’t mean… Title defenses over everything. His heavyweight resume is mid,” added a third.
Notably, Aspinall already seems to have moved on, having declared Jones’ retirement and announcing himself as the new undisputed champion.
But this week, it seems Jones faces the headache of sticking to his sidelining, or twisting and getting back to action.
Dana White issues warning to Jones
So far, failing in their bid to book a title unification clash, UFC brass seem to have exhausted all avenues to get Rochester veteran, Jones, back into the Octagon.
Meanwhile, having come under heavy fire for not taking Jones’ title from him already, promotional CEO Dana White laid out quite the ultimatum this week. Going as far as to set a deadline on the pairing, White claimed the UFC would move on “quickly” if Jones continued to drag his heels.
“Jon Jones has never turned down an opponent here or been afraid to fight anybody,” White told Jim Rome.
“I don’t know. We’ll see how this thing plays out over the next — over the next couple of weeks. But, yeah, if we can’t get this fight done, we’ll move on quickly. We’ll have the answers in the next couple of weeks,” he promised.
Notably, earlier this week, Jones went so far as to claim he had no intentions to make a return to action. For the time being, at least.
“Right now, I could really care less (sic) about fighting…” Jones told The Nelk Boys. “When the itch comes back — if it comes back, then I’ll do it with my whole heart.”
Funnily enough, the criticism and constant questioning do seem to have gotten to him, at least a little bit. The UFC champion was seen abruptly storming out of an interview with the Full Send podcast after being posed the Aspinall question.
