Jones contemplates retirement after Stipe Miocic fight

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Jones contemplates retirement after Stipe Miocic fight

By Gabriel Ornelas
May 3, 2023

Jon Jones may retire following his mega-fight against Stipe Miocic, but has one fighter in mind that could motivate him to stay around a little longer.

Jon Jones has his eyes set on the finish line.

The UFC heavyweight champion is expected to fight Stipe Miocic for the title later this year in New York City at Madison Square Garden, and he thinks that could be his final fight.

“I feel like the Stipe fight will be plenty for me,” Jones told Fox Sports Australia. “I feel like I don’t have much to prove after beating Stipe Miocic. I’ve been in the game for a long time… I could see it coming to an end really soon and I’m happy with that. I’m proud of my career.”

“Bones” is considered amongst many as the greatest MMA fighter of all time. Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) boasts an incredible resume along with holding the longest unbeaten streak in the UFC (19) and holds a perfect record in UFC title fights (15-0). Jones’ only loss came against Matt Hamil, which came via disqualification for illegal elbows.

Despite having his eyes set on retirement, Jones thinks one more fighter can keep him in MMA a little longer.

“I do believe a Francis Ngannou fight would be worth entertaining not retiring,” Jones said. “I think a Francis fight would come with some serious revenue and that would make it worth my while. Francis is a former champion, he’s pretty damn popular here in America and across the world he’s very well known. It would bring in a lot of money and for that I would be willing to come back.”

Ngannou, who is currently a free agent, was the former UFC heavyweight champion and defended the belt in January against Ciryl Gane. Ngannou and the UFC were unable to come to terms on a new deal so he was forced to relinquish the belt.

Sergei Pavlovich, who is on a six fight win streak, currently sits on deck as the next opponent for Jones to face if he were to get past Miocic, but Jones does not see the appeal in the fight.

“Everyone is talking about Sergei and Sergei is a huge challenge, but no one knows who he is,” Jones said. “Maybe the UFC will come with the right numbers and we can make this Sergei thing happen, but as of right now I got all the accolades and nothing really to prove.”