Ahead of his anticipated fight against Stipe Miocic at the Madison Garden Square at UFC 309, Jon Jones appeared to have buried any intention to fight the interim heavyweight champion, Tom Aspinall in his latest confession about health. The heavyweight champion is looking to defend his title for the very first time after decimating Ciryl Gane at UFC 285. But his reign as a champion has been marred by controversies as well as ducking allegations. And in the heat of the moment, ‘Bones’ has revealed the real reason why he wants to retire.

Jon ‘Bones’ Jones’ career under the tutelage of UFC has been nothing but a culmination of achievements and nothing else. He became the youngest fighter to ever claim a championship at the age of 23 and since then he has never been defeated once. His dominance speaks volumes as every fighter, who enters the Octagon alongside him never remains the same, and seemingly it’s time for him to take care of his health.

To fight Miocic, Jones has been training with Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson and BJJ GOAT, Gordon Ryan and in that same training sprint, ‘Bones’ has confessed that its time for him to think about his health now- “When I was in my 20s, I would go home with headaches all the time, you know, concussions.”

He further added, “And now, when I have them, I’m really upset, like I did something wrong. So I really, really try to protect my brain. After you get hit too much in the brain, your ability to see things comes and goes. I’ve seen teenage guys who could get hit and then, at the end of their career, they couldn’t stop a jab.”

Concussions may not seem significant at first, but when they occur repeatedly, they can become extremely dangerous. If fighters do not tend to their brain then it would have lasting effects on thinking, learning, memory, and attention. In addition to that, a single concussion increases the risk of having another concussion which might be more severe.

This confession comes after Jones has been marred by the community with claims of avoiding a fight against Tom Aspinall. When the entire MMA community appears to be bashing Jones, Francis Ngannou has stepped forward to support his decision to not fight anymore.

Francis Ngannou defends Jon Jones’s decision to retire after Stipe Miocic fight

With a career spanning over a decade, Jon Jones doesn’t have to prove his superiority, and that’s exactly what Francis Ngannou believes. According to the ex-UFC heavyweight champion, the promotion is to blame for the baloney they did at the division. ‘The Predator’ emphasizes that Dana White should have put an end to Jones’s career before moving forward to make Aspinall the next champion.

“It’s a situation that is stuck in the corner for everyone. Who is obligated to have a fight that he wants, the champ or the interim champ? Who is in the position to pick? The only reason why we got here is because the organization made everything happen, they organized everything. I don’t think the blame should be on Jon or Aspinall. Everybody is claiming what’s right, but nobody wants to blame the organization, right? If I’m Jon, I want to do the fight [with Stipe Miocic],” said Ngannou.

He further added “Basically, my fight in November was canceled against Stipe and maybe that’s my retirement fight. I don’t really want somebody to tell me which one to fight. At his point, he has a bit of leverage in that way. I’m not saying none of them are right but it’s a situation that’s a little complicated.”

The heavyweight division might be in the doldrums right now but November will answer all of the questions. Regardless, what’s your take on Jon Jones’ confession about concussions? State your thoughts in the comments below.