Chael Sonnen isn’t buying into Jon Jones‘ claim that he’ll “more than likely” retire following his long-awaited clash with Stipe Miocic.
While attending Saturday’s UFC card at Sphere in Las Vegas, ‘Bones’ revealed that his undisputed heavyweight title tilt with Miocic on November 16 would be his “last time” competing inside the Octagon. With rumors of Jones’ retirement swirling around over the last year, his comment didn’t come as much of a surprise. However, not everyone is willing to take ‘Bones’ at his word.
Addressing Jones’ comment on his YouTube channel, the three-time UFC title challenger called bullsh*t on the claim, accusing the consensus GOAT of tacking on the retirement talk as a marketing ploy.
“I’m watching this. Oh, Jon has grabbed on to that retirement idea. He did not mean it, it was completely insincere, it wasn’t even his idea. Somebody else said it, he heard it, thought it might be good to go with. And a couple of different reasons guys that are not going to retire say that they’re going to retire. A couple. One could be, he heard somebody else say it thought it might be good marketing.
“He never comes out and does anything to try for marketing and he went for it. Another one is just the same reason you did things like that when you were a child. So that somebody else would tell, ‘Oh no, hey, whoa, we want you, you’re great’” (h/t MMA News).
Fans Still Holding Out hope for unification clash between jon jones and tom Aspinall
Jones, 37, is undeniably in the twilight of his illustrious career after winning titles in two different weight classes and amassing a 27-1 record with his only loss coming via an incredibly controversial disqualification. A win over Miocic would likely cement his legacy as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, but in the eyes of many, Jones will still have one bit of unresolved business.
That being current interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.
Since taking home the temporary title last November via a first-round knockout of Sergei Pavlovich, Aspinall has been pushing hard for a scrap with Jon Jones.
Thus far, ‘Bones’ and the UFC have remained adamant that Jones will fight Miocic before anything else, but the hope is that Jones will see fit to do the right thing and unify his belt with Aspinall’s, assuming he gets past Miocic at UFC 309 in Madison Square Garden.
