“Listen, you can’t make people fight. If Jon doesn’t want to fight, we can’t make him fight.” That was Dana White’s frustrated response at the UFC 316 post-fight press conference when asked about Jon Jones’ future. The heavyweight unification bout between ‘Bones’ and Tom Aspinall has seemingly turned into a story with no end in sight. The fans? They’ve even started a petition to strip the undisputed title from Jones, but still, there’s no sign of that happening anytime soon.

In the meantime, the undisputed heavyweight champion has been busy dropping cryptic messages on X and filming the Russian version of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ reality show in Thailand.  Now, he’s back in the U.S., but when asked if he’s planning on hanging up his gloves, Jones had an interesting response!

In a video shared on Instagram by ‘ClockedNLoaded’, it all went down outside The Hangar in Miami, where Dirty Boxing 2 is set to take place. As Jon Jones made his way toward the venue, a camera rolled, and the man behind it went straight for the jugular as he asked, “Can you settle it once and for all for fans? They wanna know, are you retired or not?”

Before Jones could say a word, a voice in the background cut in with, “We’re not, we’re not doing that right now.” Still, the undisputed heavyweight champion, grinning but evasive, simply stated, “Oh, man.  Be sure to check out Dirty Boxing 2 tomorrow night.”

The cameraman, trying to keep the pressure on, then asked, “Because I think you’ll be back. What’s the magic number to get you back?”. Jones gave a sly nod as he responded with, “If you come to Dirty Boxing, you’ll find out. You’ll find out.”

Let’s pause here for a second. Earlier this year, reports had emerged that revealed Jon Jones had joined Mike Perry’s latest venture, ‘Dirty Boxing Championship’, as a co-owner. The league features fighters throwing down in MMA-style gloves with elbows, clinch work, and limited strikes on the ground allowed, as well.

That would explain his appearances at the events. But the question about his retirement? That’s where the story gets even murkier. At the UFC 316 post-fight press conference, Dana White had claimed that Jones had agreed to fight Tom Aspinall. The UFC boss even pointed out that Jones had accepted an offer for the clash.

Yet, according to Ariel Helwani, “The problem is he didn’t tell you the whole story. He didn’t tell you about the ‘and then he went back on his word’ part. He didn’t tell you about that part.”

Why? That’s anyone’s guess. Maybe he’s stalling. Maybe he’s stoking the fire. Or maybe Jon Jones just doesn’t feel like playing by the book anymore. But one thing is clear: Daniel Cormier isn’t buying it.

Jon Jones gets a harsh reality check from Daniel Cormier about “quitting”

Daniel Cormier recently not only questioned Jon Jones’s choices, but also his mindset. Speaking on his YouTube channel, the former ‘champ-champ’ didn’t hold back as he confessed that if it were him, Tom Aspinall would’ve already had his shot at the belt. According to Cormier, “All this other stuff that’s going on around the fight – I mean, you’re talking about me, you’re talking about Francis (Ngannou), you’re talking about Chael (Sonnen), you’re talking about all these things and almost ignoring the right thing.”

Jones, he shared, isn’t acting like the fighter fans have come to know.  The detour. The unwillingness to do “the right thing” and unify the belt all point towards one thing as he continued with, “Not everybody gets to retire, Jon Jones will get to retire from fighting, but if he doesn’t fight this guy, then that’s just him quitting.”

He then painted a sharp contrast. For Cormier, the danger of Aspinall wouldn’t scare him off; it would fuel him. The challenge of facing someone that could “knock my a–out,” he said, would only push him to train harder. But in Jones’ case? That same threat seems to have him dancing around the spotlight instead of owning it.

So, to wrap things up, fans are restless, Dana White is running out of answers, and Daniel Cormier has already called it what it looks like: a slow retreat, not a retirement. While Jon Jones promotes Dirty Boxing and sidesteps tough questions with clever grins, the clock keeps ticking on a title reign that feels more questionable with every passing day.

Now the question becomes, will ‘Bones’ return to silence the doubters? Or has the king already left the arena without ever officially stepping down? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!