At this point, it is almost imperative that Jon Jones will most probably call it quits after his next outing. A fabled story of ups and downs that began at 205lbs will reach its climax at UFC 309 against heavyweight GOAT Stipe Miocic. Although the bout is a legacy fight but is being seen as a foregone conclusion by many since Miocic is 42 and is approaching the end of his respective rope.

However, the scrap most fans want to see is a unification bout between Jones and interim heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall. But the prospects of that are almost nonexistent at this moment, as Jones’ coach Brandon Gibson revealed recently.

“I’m also ready to see Jon hang it up, you know. Put the belt up. I’d prefer him to walk away obviously earlier than later. And out of all the fighters, Jon deserves to walk away, like you said, anytime he wants. So I’m always going to support those guys. There’s never any pressure on me like ‘Oh we gotta fight one more time, we gotta fight this next number one contender”, he clarified in a recent interview with MMA Fighting on YouTube.

While Jones has already indicated he plans to retire after his outing in the ‘Big Apple’, his coach has revealed that the mood in his team is also inclined that way. Some feel that Jones would be doing a disservice to the sport and his legacy by riding out into the sunset despite there being an interim champ in the division. However, the coach disagrees and feels there will always be someone up next for Jon Jones to fight.

“Because there’s always going to be a next number one contender. There’s never a perfect time to walk out. Somebody will always say, you know, they’ll hold it- ‘But you didn’t fight that guy.’ To me, it doesn’t matter. So whenever Jon’s ready, I’m right there with him. But yeah, I’m approaching this one like it’s our last goal, our last rodeo,” Gibson added in the same interview with MMA Fighting. Jones himself is also not bothered about the Aspinall fight as he had boasted previously.

“Maybe I’ll leave you with blue balls, but my legacy will be just fine. I’ve done way too much work in this game. There’s people around the world that’s been watching me fight since they can remember. He would have to go on and win like 10 championships at least in order for that to happen. The work I put in, that body of work ain’t getting touched no time soon,” Jones had written on his X in August. But won’t it be difficult to make others believe?

Jones is probably among the best light heavyweights to compete in the UFC. He had 8 successful title defenses in his first stint as UFC 205-pound champion. The first five came via submission. Then his second run saw him defend his crown three times. Looking at these, one can definitely argue that Jones is not only the best UFC fighter to compete at 205 pounds under the UFC banner but that he is the best fighter to ever step into the Octagon. Even the UFC CEO Dana White also has been telling.

“Everybody on the internet’s stupid…Anybody who thinks Jon Jones isn’t the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world should never be discussing fighting ever. Period, end of story,” White had said. But there are some points that might dispute this.

Jones moved up to heavyweight in 2023 after Francis Ngannou left the UFC as a free agent. That was a big negative according to many fans. White had said in 2021 that Jones had priced himself out of a matchup against Ngannou by asking for too much money for the fight. So if Jones truly wanted to fight Ngannou for the UFC heavyweight title, probably he could have done so. But he stayed away from that.

When Jones finally competed for the title left vacant by Ngannou’s departure, he did that against Ciryl Gane. He was the fighter whom Ngannou defeated in his January 2022 heavyweight title defense. Jones defeated Gane with ease, submitting him in the first round of their March 2023 fight.

Jones was set for his first title defense against former two-time UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 in November 2023. “This is the fight that Jon Jones wanted. It’s the fight that Stipe wanted. It is a legacy fight for both of these guys,” the UFC head honcho had said during the fight announcement in July 2023.

Back then, Miocic was out of the Octagon since Francis Ngannou knocked him out to become UFC heavyweight champion in March 2021. Miocic’s most recent victory is his August 2020 decision win over Daniel Cormier, who retired after that fight. The Jones-Miocic fight had to be called off since Jones tore a pectoral muscle during training, requiring surgery. Consequently, the UFC booked an interim title fight between Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich.

Aspinall won that easily. Ideally, on Jones’ return from injury, the UFC could have set a title unification bout. But the UFC stuck to the Jones-Miocic fight. According to many, this is surely a hit to Jones’ legacy. Tom Aspinall indeed looks like the next-generation talent in the division. So many think that Jones, who claims to be the all-time best, should have taken up the challenge to reiterate his legacy beyond his generation.

Ironically, part of Jones’ legacy was built by fighting and defeating generational talent. Many of those fighters were former UFC champions. But looks like he has lost the fire to prove the critics wrong and took a safer route here. And we can not blame if someone thinks that. Avoiding the fight against Ngannou was still acceptable because at that point Jones was getting used to the new weight division. But not taking up a title unification bout reflects poorly on someone of Jones’ caliber. If he retires after the Miocic fight, that will indeed leave that question mark forever.

Maybe that is why, Aspinall is very much disputing Jones’ so-called ‘undisputed’ title. Not to mention the Englishman is a generational talent and the cream of the crop among the current generation of fighters, just as Jones was for the previous generation. But unlike the crestfallen fans, Aspinall is not bothered at not getting to fight the GOAT contender.

Why Tom Aspinall is unbothered of never getting to fight Jon Jones?

Tom Aspinall has done everything he can to convince Jon Jones to fight him. From calling him out respectfully to taking a more tactless tone to walk up to Jones in hopes of having a face-off, the interim champ has taken every resort. However, ‘Bones’ has been adamant in making it clear he does not want to go at it.

Some would attribute this reluctance on Jones’ part to him being too afraid he might lose to Aspinall, while others feel ‘Bones’ has nothing left to prove. But Aspinall himself seems to have moved on and is not much bothered about whether or not Jones fights him. This is coming from the man who with a potential win over Jones, can register his claim at combat immortality.

But why is Aspinall so unbothered? Well, because he doesn’t worry much about his legacy and just wants to be the best heavyweight in the world. “In all honesty, I’ve not got any interest in being the best heavyweight ever. That’s why when me and Jon Jones talk, he says stuff online like, ‘My legacy is always gonna be better [than yours].’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, it is.’ I’m not bothered about legacy, I just feel like I’m the best heavyweight in the world and I want people to recognize it. That’s it!” Aspinall declared in a recent interview.

What do you think about Jon Jones’ coach’s opinion about Jones’ retiring? Does he need to fight Tom Aspinall or has he nothing left to prove? Let us know in the comment section below!