Jon Jones defended his Heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309, landing a spinning back kick to the ribcage followed by punches to retain the belt. Since then, his future inside the Octagon has been a mystery to fans.
Jones has expressed little to no interest in a unification bout against Tom Aspinall, reportedly demanding a huge compensation package and also hinting at retirement from the sport. His former opponent, Chael Sonnen, weighed in on Jones’ future in the UFC and shared an interesting take on the situation.
Chael Sonnen Questions Jon Jones’ Future Without a UFC Title
In his recent YouTube video, Chael Sonnen weighed in on the uncertainty surrounding Jon Jones’ UFC career. The UFC analyst questioned how important “Bones” would be to the organization if he no longer held the title.
The UFC Hall of Famer pointed out that the reigning champion doesn’t do much to promote his own fights and emphasized that losing the belt to Aspinall could put Jones in an uncomfortable position within the promotion.
“What would happen with Jon if he’s not champion? That’s a tough one to answer, because it appears that the answer is no. No, he doesn’t do a great job of building fights, there aren’t anybody that’s going to call him out, he’s not savvy enough to call anybody out. So now, what do we do? Where do we put him? If we make the decision we’re not going to rematch him with Tom”.
Sonnen emphasized that the UFC still doesn’t know how to utilize Jones within the promotion if he loses the belt, and he believes that’s why the organization hasn’t stripped him yet.
“And if you believe that you could do something with Jon as a non-champion, it would seem that you would have done it, because Jon himself even knows it’s a little weird that they didn’t come after my belt.
The UFC analyst even shared a phone conversation he had with Jones, where “Bones” expressed doubt that the promotion would offer him an immediate rematch if he were to lose the belt to Aspinall. This uncertainty left him skeptical about his future in the UFC.
“I’m on the phone with Jon, and he has a concern, they don’t know what to do with me if I’m not champion, and if Tom beats me and he doesn’t give me a rematch or they won’t guarantee me a rematch, what do they plan to do with me? I just thought that it was a very interesting take, and I gained respect”.
Sonnen asserted that Jones is worried he won’t get a rematch if he loses to Aspinall, emphasizing that “Bones” is nearing the end of his career, while the Brit is a rising star. The UFC Hall of Famer believes the promotion might decide to focus on building new stars instead of continuing to build fights around the heavyweight kingpin.
“That Jon is worried about an immediate rematch and doesn’t believe he’s going to get it, he can look at the board and see that he’s 36 and on his way out, and this guy is in his 20s and on his way up. And he even questions why they left the belt with him to the point that he’s saying if they knew what to do with me, not as champion, they’d have already done it. That’s very objective.”
Meanwhile, UFC CEO Dana White has expressed positivity and confidence that Jones will return to the Octagon to face Aspinall for the heavyweight title unification bout.