After the UFC hosted its first event in Baku, Azerbaijan, Dana White made a shocking announcement. The UFC President confirmed that Jon Jones had officially retired from the sport.
This meant that the Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion, Tom Aspinall, would be upgraded to undisputed.
“Jon Jones called last night and retired,” said White.
“Jon Jones is officially retired, Tom Aspinall is the heavyweight champion of the UFC.”
With such a surprising statement being released, it leaves fans questioning who will challenge for the title next and when it may happen.
Jones’ journey as a UFC Heavyweight
The New York mixed martial artist was laid off from the UFC after defending his Light Heavyweight title against Dominick Reyes.
‘Bones’ began training at heavyweight, where he tried to become a two-division champion in the organisation.
Three years after his most recent battle, Jones stepped back in the Octagon to face Ciryl Gane for the vacant Heavyweight title at UFC 285.
Francis Ngannou could’ve faced Jones, but a contract disagreement made the Cameroonian drop the title and leave the UFC.
The scheduled five-round bout with Gane only lasted one round as Jones submitted the Frenchman with a Guillotine Choke to win the title.
The Rochester-born fighter then set his sights on defeating Stipe Miocic, who holds the most UFC Heavyweight title wins.
The championship fight was supposed to take place at UFC 295 in Madison Square Garden, leaving fans heavily excited.
However, a pectoral injury from Jones forced him out of the bout.
Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich took their places in the co-main event at MSG for the interim title.
One year on from his cancelled contest, Jones vs Miocic was rescheduled at UFC 309.
Jones thrillingly defended the title as a spin kick to the body finished Miocic in the third round.
Since then, it’s been hard to guess whether Jones wanted to take the fight with Aspinall.
But after eight months, the proclaimed G.O.A.T. of MMA confirmed his retirement.
Who will face the new Undisputed Champion?
After being elevated to the King of the Heavyweights, it’s unclear against whom Aspinall should defend his title first.
The Salford-born fighter has already defended the interim title at UFC 304, where he defeated Curtis Blaydes by first-round knockout.
Three fighters currently hold themselves in possible contention and will most likely be next to fight for the belt.
Ciryl Gane
As a former Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion, Gane is no stranger to UFC title fights.
‘Bon Gamin lost to Jones, as well as Ngannou at UFC 270 for the undisputed title, as he still awaits a third opportunity.
The Frenchman is currently on a two-fight win streak after victories over Alexander Volkov and Serghei Spivac.
Gane was originally meant to fight Aspinall at UFC 304, but he turned down the opportunity due to filming commitments.
It is a matchup that fans have expected to happen, and most likely this year, since the #2 Heavyweight contender has not fought this year.
Alexander Volkov
Surprisingly, Volkov has never fought for a UFC title, despite being ranked at the top for so long.
The Russian came close to fighting for the undisputed title back in 2018, but a knockout loss to Derrick Lewis stopped that from happening.
‘Drago’ was previously on a four-fight winning streak with wins over Pavlovich and Tai Tuivasa.
But a decision loss to Gane at UFC 310 snapped his incredible run, even though the MMA community believed that Volkov won the battle.
Volkov has previously fought Aspinall, which was back in March 2022 at UFC London, where he suffered a first-round submission loss.
If the Moscow-born fighter gets the opportunity, he can avenge that defeat while achieving title glory at the same time.
Jailton Almeida
If there is one fighter who has been on a destructive path like the newly crowned Heavyweight Champion, it is certainly Almeida.
The Brazilian has only lost one of his nine UFC fights, where he could have fought for the interim title at UFC 304, but Blaydes stopped him by second-round TKO at UFC 299.
‘Malhadinho’ has been nothing but dominant, especially with his victories against the likes of Spivac, Alexandr Romanov and Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
The #6 Heavyweight contender believes he’s the next rightful challenger for the belt since he’s on a winning streak, and hasn’t had multiple title chances like Gane.
It would be a classic Heavyweight title fight between Almeida and Aspinall because they both have very high finish rates in their MMA careers.
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