Jones, 37, retires; White: Aspinall now champion

Jon Jones, widely considered the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, has retired from competition.

According to UFC CEO Dana White, Jones, 37, informed the promotion of his decision to retire Friday. The UFC had been working toward booking a heavyweight title unification bout between Jones and interim champion Tom Aspinall, but with Jones' sudden retirement, Aspinall is now elevated to undisputed champion. White said the UFC will work with Aspinall next week on booking his first title defense.

"Jon Jones called us last night and retired," White said during a news conference in Azerbaijan, where UFC Fight Night took place. "Jon Jones is officially retired. Tom Aspinall is the heavyweight champion of the UFC."

Later Saturday, Jones confirmed the announcement with a social media post, saying that "this decision comes after a lot of reflection, and I want to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude for the journey I've experienced over the years." He later closed the post by adding that "MMA will always be a part of who I am, and I'm excited to see how I can continue to contribute to the sport and inspire others in new ways."

Jones (28-1) moved up from the light heavyweight division to capture the vacant heavyweight championship over Ciryl Gane in 2023. He defended the belt once during his 27-month title reign, in a third-round TKO victory over Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November.

A bout between Jones and Aspinall would have been one of the biggest in UFC heavyweight history, but Jones repeatedly downplayed the potential matchup, arguing that a win over Aspinall would have done nothing for his legacy. Jones' disinterest caused many observers to accuse him of ducking Aspinall. An online petition calling for Jones to be stripped of his title garnered nearly 200,000 signatures.

"I obviously feel bad for Tom that he lost all that time and money, but we'll make it up to him. Tom Aspinall is a good guy. He's been incredible through this whole process that we've gone through," White said. "He's been willing to do anything -- fight him anywhere and anytime and do this, and now he's like, 'I'll fight anybody. You tell me who, and I'll fight him.' So, Aspinall has been great. He's going to be a great heavyweight champion for us, and I'm excited to work with him."

Jones, who lives and trains in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been considered the greatest mixed martial artist of all time for years. At 21, he became the youngest champion in UFC history when he defeated Mauricio "Shogun" Rua for the 205-pound title in 2011. He went on to a 16-0 record in UFC championship fights, the most of all time. He is one of nine fighters to hold UFC titles in multiple weight classes. His 22 career wins in the UFC are tied for fifth most in the sport's history.

Throughout his career, Jones was heavily impacted by legal issues outside of the Octagon. Most notably, he was arrested and charged with a felony hit-and-run in 2015, after he fled the scene of a vehicle accident that injured a 25-year-old pregnant woman. He pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and was sentenced to supervised probation. He was suspended from competition for one year in 2016 after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Jones long maintained those positive results were due to contaminated legal supplements.

Most recently, a criminal complaint was filed against Jones earlier this month for allegedly leaving the scene of an accident in February, the Albuquerque Journal reported Saturday.