After around 7 months of inactivity and doing everything but granting Tom Aspinall a shot at unifying the titles, Jon Jones decided to call it quits in one of the most unceremonious retirements ever. But when the POTUS, Donald Trump, announced that he wanted to host a UFC event at the White House in 2026, ‘Bones’ found the itch to unretire. He posted on X, “Just re-entered the testing pool, that lasted for about two weeks. Figured we’d keep everyone’s options open.” But is he truly returning? 

Fighting at the White House is nothing short of a dream. Even Conor McGregor, who once claimed he had achieved everything a fighter could, hinted at a possible return to compete on the lawns of Washington DC’s Executive Mansion. He even reignited his beef with Michael Chandler after the fighting community lost all hope of the Irishman returning or that fight ever happening. But Jones’ case seemed a bit different. According to Uncrowned’s executive producer, Eric Jackman, Jon Jones’ return could have repercussions. 

In a recent conversation with Denis Shkuratov from Submission Radio, Jackman weighed in on Jon Jones’ entering the testing pool. He said, “Because this is what Jon Jones does. Because Jon Jones is a troll at this point and that’s basically all he is. And I don’t think it’s in his hands anymore probably, unless by special request Jon Jones was probably on that card. I think this latest round of shenanigans probably put him in bad standing with the UFC.” 

In the same interview, Eric Jackman pointed out how when the UFC was trying to make Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall, the Englishman was ready to fight, but Jones wasn’t. Dana White and Co. reportedly agreed to meet the former heavyweight champion halfway and pay him what he demanded. According to White, Jones even agreed to make that fight happen. But all that happened were talks with no action taking place in the end. Quite similar to what went down between Dana White and Francis Ngannou. 

Jackman continued, “We’ve seen people in this position before and the UFC doesn’t typically take kindly to this one. Francis Ngannou is somebody who they tried to offer some money to, and he rebuked them. And he seems in the doghouse as well. So, I don’t imagine that Jon Jones can just like pop in and out in this way. I imagine he’s probably on ice for a little bit.”, except Jones hasn’t rebuked the UFC, but it does seem like his sudden retirement shocked the promotion CEO.

Now, the sudden 180 by Jon Jones has quickly become the talk of the town. However, not everyone seems convinced by the former champion’s motivation. Some believe he still wants to prove himself against the reigning heavyweight champion.

Michael Bisping cites Tom Aspinall as reason for Jon Jones’ apparent return

Taking to his YouTube channel, Michael Bisping recently reacted to Jones’ return to the testing pool. He said, “He’s been going a bit berserk on Twitter lately but maybe he’s come back. He’s gone straight and narrow. He’s got his s— together, he’s thinking straight and clean. And it’s like, you know what? Yeah, I’ve got a bunch of money coming in from this lawsuit, but I am leaving a lot of money on the table.”

And the reason for ‘Bones’s return? All signs point to Tom Aspinall. After losing a significant amount of time because of Jones, Aspinall wants to fight four times in the coming 12 months. And his list now includes fighters like Ciryl Gane, Jailton Almeida, Waldo Cortes Acosta, and Derrick Lewis. Weighing in on this, ‘The Count’ said, “And maybe now, because Tom has got a new opponent right? There’s going to be more footage on him. There’s going to be more tape to study.”  He continued, “There’s going to be a potential for Tom to get beat, for him to have more miles on the clock and he can come out and fight the winner…”

According to Bisping, Jones will likely return just to silence Aspinall and fans who accused him of ducking the Brit. However, we can only be certain once Dana White officially announces the former champion’s return. What do you think about ‘Bones’ re-entering the testing pool just two weeks after announcing his retirement?