Daniel Cormier doesn’t fault Jon Jones for stepping away from the fight game, but he believes “Bones” may ultimately be labeled a quitter due to his refusal to face Tom Aspinall first.
Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) officially brought one of the longest “will they, won’t they” sagas in UFC history to an end this week after UFC President Dana White revealed that the 37-year-old had called to announce his retirement, vacating the UFC heavyweight title in the process.
Over the past 18 months, Jones repeatedly declined to face interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) in a title unification bout, leading fans to accuse him of ducking the British contender. Now, Cormier — who fought Jones twice for the light heavyweight title — believes that unfortunate label may stick with the former two-division champion for the rest of his career.
“I said... if Jon Jones doesn’t fight Tom Aspinall, he quit,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “Because he will walk away from something that has defined his entire adult life.
“(Fighting) saved him, it allowed for him to build a great life. And honestly, I’m not mad that this young man has a life with his family, and they got money, and they got all these great things, but it does not change the fact that by not stepping in that octagon, he quit. He didn’t want to fight Tom Aspinall. It’s so surprising.”
After nearly a decade of dominance in the UFC light heavyweight division, Jon Jones moved up in weight and captured the vacant heavyweight title by submitting Ciryl Gane in 2023. However, ahead of his first title defense against Stipe Miocic later that year, Jones suffered a torn pectoral tendon. In his absence, Tom Aspinall stepped in to face Sergei Pavlovich for the interim title at UFC 311.
Aspinall made quick work of Pavlovich, scoring a knockout in just over a minute to claim the interim belt. But when Jones returned to the Octagon a year later, he dismissed calls to unify the title with Aspinall and instead stuck to his original plan to fight Miocic.
After defeating the former champion with relative ease, Jones remained firm in his refusal to face Aspinall. UFC President Dana White had repeatedly insisted the unification bout would "100%" happen in 2025, but that plan appears to be off the table following Jones’ announcement of his retirement. As a result, Aspinall has now been elevated to undisputed heavyweight champion.
“He doesn’t want to fight Tom,” Cormier said. “I honestly feel like if Tom loses, he would come back. And that’s crazy to me, because that’s only going to make it worse.
“Is he scared? No, but by not fighting Aspinall, he opened the conversation,” Cormier explained. “He lets you, every one of you question why he doesn’t fight him.”
