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DANA WHITE has been urged by UFC fans to bite the bullet and STRIP Jon Jones of his heavyweight title.
A massive unification fight between Jones and his interim counterpart Tom Aspinall has been on the cards since last November but has still not come to fruition.
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Former pound-for-pound king Jones has been ummed and ahhed with the prospect of retirement in recent weeksGETTY
GETTYThat’s despite the UFC brass’ willingness to break their pay structure and meet Jones’ demands to be paid “F**K YOU MONEY” for the bout.
Former pound-for-pound king Jones has infuriated MMA fans over the last few weeks with his umming and ahhing over the prospect of retirement.
And he left fight fans on tenterhooks again this week during a rare sit-down interview.
During an interview on Deepcut with VicBlends, he said: “I don’t know what life holds as far as fighting and competing.
“I do feel like I’ll be a lifelong martial artist whether I’m coaching others or taking exhibition matches and things like that.
“There’s a lot of great competition still in the UFC. I do view myself as more than a fighter.
“Being in my position, I feel like I have a lot more options than a lot of the other fighters as far as the ability to leave and return.
“And so right now I’m just focusing on love, happiness, kindness.
“We’re at the quarter-century mark, and this year should be a really special year.”
Jones’ comments immediately drew the ire of UFC fans around the world, who took to social media to vent their frustrations.
One said: “Strip him already, make [Ciryl] Gane vs Aspinall in the UK.
“We’ve had enough of this. Enjoy your retirement [and] if you want to come back, you’ll have to fight Aspinall anyway.”
Another said: “He took 3 years off to ‘prepare for Heavyweight’. How much time does he need? STRIP HIM!”
And another said: “Strip him of the belt and let him come back and fight for it when he’s ready.”
One remarked: “If he doesn’t know, then I’d say he’s done. Shame Dana can’t compute that.”
Another chimed in: “UFC is a total joke for not stripping him and giving Aspinall another fight to defend his title.
“If Jones [has] quit and let the UFC know about it, then the UFC has to move on.
“I don’t know what life holds as far as fighting and competing.”
Jon Jones on his fighting future“If Jones wants to fight and is just delaying, the UFC needs to give him a date and tell him to f**k off if he says no.
“This entire situation is causing irreparable damage to the UFC brand because people are getting turned off by the constant lies.”
Jones has been accused of ducking Wigan warrior Aspinall since his maiden defence of the heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 last November.
Fans’ patience with the Hall of Famer has worn extremely thin, although he insists he’s not leading them on.
He recently wrote on X: “Y’all barkin’ up the wrong tree. I told the UFC my plans a long time ago.
“I have no clue why they haven’t shared them with you guys yet.”
Jones’ insistence that White and Co. know his plans came just DAYS after the UFC bigwig GUARANTEED he’d return to the octagon this year.
He told Adam Glyn: “Jon Jones will be fighting in 2025. 100 per cent.”
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