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Reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones, is no stranger to lengthy absences from mixed martial arts (MMA), thanks to his failed drug tests and personal legal drama.
But this might be the first time “Bones” has ever stepped away for an extended period of time by his own choosing, the curse of being a champion so dominant that nothing is able to get him motivated to compete.
“Sometimes I think about sitting out and just training for the next two years, then coming back and challenging the light heavyweight who’s been the most dominant,” Jones wrote on Twitter. “Really not sure when I’ll be fighting next, feel like I have nothing to gain by beating Dominic. I’ve actually felt that way about my last two opponents. I’m having a hard time even talking shit to this last dude. They all say the same lame shit. I want a fight to be excited about.”
Jones was expected to fight undefeated division contender Dominick Reyes, who improved his record to 12-0 by turning away former UFC middleweight champion, Chris Weidman, in the UFC Boston main event last weekend on ESPN2.
There has also been talk of Jones moving up to heavyweight to fight either Stipe Miocic or Francis Ngannou, or even current 185-pound champion Israel Adesanya, but the promotion doesn’t seem to be in any big hurry to pull the trigger.
Maybe that vacation doesn’t sound like a bad idea after all.