Alexander Volkanovski has urged Jon Jones to retire if he doesn’t defend his UFC title against Tom Aspinall.
Jones is the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion, but he has never acknowledged that he wants to fight Aspinall, who holds interim status in the division and has been calling out ‘Bones’ to no avail for months.
Every MMA fan wants to see Jon Jones fight Tom AspinallGettyVolkanovski believes it is Jones’ ‘responsibility’ to defend his UFC title, and said if he doesn’t want to fight Aspinall then he should ultimately leave the sport for good.
“I’ve always been: if you’re the champ, you defend your belt. It’s a responsibility,” the 36-year-old from Australia said, speaking on the Overdogs Podcast with ex-UFC fighter Mike Perry.
UFC featherweight champion Volkanovski knows what it takes to win and defend a title in Dana White‘s promotion, considering he’s done it a combined seven times.
‘The Great’ reclaimed the strap at 145 lbs in his last fight at UFC 314, outpointing Diego Lopes over five rounds to win the title that had been vacated by Ilia Topuria.
Volkanovski has since cemented his name as one of the greatest UFC champions of all-time, and is a highly respected name in the MMA world.
“You can’t just sit out,” he added.
“You need to be reasonably active. You need to fight whoever’s there.
“If you’ve got an interim champ, it’s a no-brainer. I don’t want to throw heaps of shade, [as] I know [Jones has] proved himself.
“[But] everyone says, ‘Look what he’s done, it’s fine.’ No, not really.
“Don’t hold up the division. I know your resume is incredible. You’re considered the greatest of all time, we get that.
Volkanovski said Jones fighting Aspinall is ‘a no-brainer’Getty“So, if you don’t want to fight, just retire, you’re done. Or if you want big fights, you’re going to have to vacate the title.
“It’s a responsibility. That’s how I’ve always looked at being the champ.”
Volkanovski later added that Jones vs Aspinall is top of his list of ‘dream fights’ that he wants to see in 2025.
He believes it needs to happen more for Jones than Aspinall, due to the credit ‘Bones’ would get for taking out the younger Englishman.
Jones has received widespread criticism based on how he has dealt with the situation regarding a fight with Aspinall.
He returned to MMA after a three-year lay off in March 2023 and submitted Ciryl Gane in 124 seconds to become the new heavyweight champion.
Volkanovski has said Jones vs Aspinall is one of his dream fightsGetty Aspinall has finished all but one of his UFC victories in the first roundGettyEight months later, Aspinall knocked out Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 to become the interim champion of the division while Jones was out injured.
Jones then opted for a legacy fight with the legendary (and now retired) Stipe Miocic, who was stopped by ‘Bones’ with a nasty spinning back kick at UFC 309 in November.
Before Jones beat Miocic in his last fight to date, Aspinall defended his interim status by knocking out Curtis Blaydes in 60 seconds at UFC Manchester last July.
This put the Wigan man in prime contention to fight for undisputed status next against Jones, who has seemingly made it his mission to everything but fight Aspinall since.
MMA fans have tried their hardest, with a poll calling for the UFC to strip Jones of his heavyweight belt nearing 200,000 verified signatures.
But Jones has continued to play the game, opting for trips to Thailand, reality TV shows, and appearing at different fighting promotions as better ways to spend time than defend his UFC title.
Jones boasts one of the best resumes in the UFCHe even indicated in June that he would be open to fighting former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, though UFC President Dana White is not remotely interested in that one.
All of the back-and-forth talk has prompted Aspinall to declare that Jones is retired and he is moving on from the fight to lock horns elsewhere.
“Everybody reaches their sell-by date, don’t they?” Aspinall said in a conversation with fellow British UFC star Paddy Pimblett this week.
“Everybody’s got a time limit, he’s reached it, and we move on.”
Jones has made several dramatic returns to the sport in the past, but his UFC comeback has never felt further away.
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