UFC heavyweight king Jon Jones is all set to end the dryness in combat sports with his return at UFC’s upcoming Madison Square Garden event against former champion Stipe Miocic this fall. However, the more MMA fans wait to see this long-anticipated fight, the more interim champion Tom Aspinall is eager to conclude his fight so he can later challenge ‘Bones’ to prove his superiority in the heavyweight division.

The ground shifted beneath ‘Honey Badger’s’ feet last month when Jones candidly announced his future plans on social media, saying, “After this year, Jon Jones will never have to work again.” Since then, ‘Bones’ has faced criticism from many, including Aspinall, who claims that heavyweight king is “afraid.” Amid the chaos of criticism, fighter-turned-analyst Daniel Cormier once again tried to remind Jon ‘Bones’ that he has unfinished business in MMA.

Daniel Cormier’s brutal reminder to Jon Jones

Jon Jones has been out of the sport since last year when his fight against Stipe Miocic fell through. This matchup was actually set to take place at the same time and place as the upcoming UFC 309. However, a few weeks before the fight, Jones tore his pectoral tendon off the bone while training, leading to the fight being scrapped. This opened the door for the Tom Aspinall vs. Sergei Pavlovich fight for the interim title, which ‘Honey Badger’ successfully claimed. Since then, fans have been eager to see their “dream” fight in the UFC.

However, with hints of retirement, ‘Bones’ has dampened fans’ demands. In a discussion with former ONE champion Ben Askren, Daniel Cormier expressed his thoughts on his YouTube channel, saying, “This is it for me. It sucks because I do believe there is some work left to be done with Aspinall. I don’t think anyone else right now warrants him sticking around. No, I really don’t, because we saw what he did to Ciryl Gane.” Ben Askren added, “But yeah, the problem is that Tom Aspinall has proved he’s the guy.”

With his hints of retirement, Jon Jones not only dampens fans’ hopes of seeing the highly anticipated Jones vs. Miocic fight but also stirs up rumors of a potential matchup against Alex Pereira. Earlier this year, this rumors shook both the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions of the UFC. Even though ‘Bones’ and Pereira are not currently scheduled to fight, it hasn’t stopped them from training together. Let’s find out when it might happen.

Alex Pereira to train with Jon Jones to prep for rumored Magomed Ankalaev fight

After successfully defending his lightweight title for the second time at UFC 303 against ranked #2 contender Jiri Prochazka, Alex Pereira sent shockwaves through the MMA world by disclosing his intention to rule the heavyweight division after collecting the middleweight and lightweight titles, like Thanos collecting Infinity Stones. Regardless of who his opponent would be, he claimed, “If it’s Jon Jones, if it’s Aspinall.” However, the world has since moved on from this callout, as Pereira made the decision in August to drop back down to 185 pounds to challenge middleweight king Dricus du Plessis. On the other hand, Jon Jones has announced his retirement after the fight against Stipe Miocic in November.

Even with this uncertainty, the duo has decided to train together, which came to light when Alex Pereira and Jon Jones met at the “One-and-Done” UFC 306 last week. During their meeting, they agreed to train for their upcoming fights. Pereira recently confirmed this collaboration in an interview with Full Send MMA, stating, “A lot of people talk about this superfight, but I think I have to make the most of this guy’s experience. He has a ton of experience, but people are talking about him maybe doing only one or two fights more, and I’m not even at heavyweight yet. I don’t know if that’s possible, but I want to at least be training with him.”

What are your thoughts on Daniel Cormier’s remark? Do you believe Jon jones still has “some work left to be done,” or has he concluded his story in MMA and has noting left to prove? Drop your opinion below.