Retire? ‘Let’s See How My Meeting With UFC Goes’

This Thanksgiving, we’re glad Jones didn’t get arrested and mess up dinner / football plans of our staff. Instead, he took to social media to chat up fans, and had some interesting things to say about his future.

While most of us probably spent this Thursday stuffing our face with turkey and relaxing with family, Jon Jones, these days going by the questionable moniker “Jonny Meat” on his socials, was putting in at least a little work at the gym. And then around 10pm he took to social media to chat it up with his fans, as he sometimes does.

Unsurprisingly, a lot of the questions and responses were about his future in the UFC and fighting Tom Aspinall.

“While you’re enjoying the day, eating junk, blazing up, and grinding on video games, just remember,” Jones wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Your competition probably put in some sort of work today and is already scheming how to conquer 2025. Food for thought … success isn’t luck, it’s a decision and the discipline to stick to it. Happy Thanksgiving!”

It was a good day for ‘turkey or duck’ jokes, and hey, Jones still has an A.I. generated image of a duck with a UFC belt as his avatar, so of course he got a lot of ‘duck’ replies.

“Sure, call me duck for the next year,” Jones shot back. “Eventually Tom will lose within the next two or three fights and my legacy will go on as the greatest MMA fight ever. End of story.”

“Crazy how being called a ‘duck’ pays better than most of you Internet tough guys will make in a lifetime. Two fights in four years and still one of the biggest names in the sport? That’s not ducking, that’s winning. God’s blessings hit different, stay mad … Peer pressure and playground insults don’t hit quite the same at 37.”

Jon’s comments pour some cold water on all the reports suggesting a Jones vs. Aspinall fight was coming together nice and easy. Maybe on Aspinall’s side, but according to “Bones” he hasn’t had the big talk with UFC brass yet.

“I’d probably vacate the belt before officially retiring,” he wrote. “Let’s see how my meeting with UFC goes.”

Will Jones actually retire? This all feels like a big dumb game of chicken between the G.O.A.T. contender and UFC, with Jon demanding ‘f— you’ money for a Aspinall fight while dangling a big money (and much easier) Pereira fight in front of them. He’s trying to drive them to do what he wants the one way he can: by threatening to retire.

But Dana White is a degenerate gambler of the highest order. We don’t see this as a bluff — Jones is definitely willing to drop the belt walk away. He already did it in 2020. And the UFC is willing to let him, and has already told us to be prepared for a Jones ‘disappearing act.’

But will Jones walk away forever? That’s the bluff White is willing to call if Jones insists on a payscale-breaking amount of money to keep fighting.