Millionare NBA Star Clears Jon Jones of Major Allegation While Dropping Unpopular Verdict on UFC Return

“Jon Jones called us last night and retired,” UFC president Dana White stated at the UFC Baku Post-Fight Presser. The head honcho confirmed that the promotion had finally moved on from Jon Jones. That turn of events fulfilled Tom Aspinall’s dream of becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Still, UFC fans felt disappointed as the most anticipated fight of the year slipped away. But the situation quickly took a new turn.

Donald Trump announced a White House card, which pushed ‘Bones’ to break his retirement in just 14 days. He assured fans that he would jump back into the anti-doping pool and perform at the biggest event in the promotion’s history. Meanwhile, Tom Aspinall locked in his first title defense against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321. When everyone thought Jones was done, he proved otherwise by returning to the pool.

That comeback reignited the question: if Jones is ready to fight again, did he actually dodge Aspinall in the first place? Rising NBA star Gary Payton II, son of NBA legend Gary Payton, weighed in on the much-anticipated heavyweight showdown and claimed that ‘Bones’ never truly wanted to face Aspinall during a recent appearance on the JAXXON podcast with Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson.

The very first question from Rampage brought the NBA shooting guard to the topic of Jon Jones. “I’mma tell you something… You look like a Jon Jones fan,” Jackson remarked with a pointed gaze. With a long “hmm” from Payton Jr, the discussion on the former UFC champion began. Then came the important question. “What do you think about Jon Jones not fighting Aspinall?” the former light heavyweight champion asked. Addressing the allegations of Jon Jones ducking Aspinall, Payton replied, “I feel like, me personally, he(Jon Jones) didn’t want to. I’m sure he can.” To which ‘Rampage’ claimed, “I think he’ll beat him.” Payton gave that a nod and said, “Me too, I just feel like he doesn’t want to!”

The NBA star, who has a net worth between $5-10 million, feels that Jon Jones would beat Tom Aspinall, which is quite an unpopular verdict, as most fans believe the reigning heavyweight champion would put ‘Bones’ to sleep if they ever collided in the Octagon. Regardless, he didn’t explain why he thinks the 38-year-old retired in the first place if he could defeat Tom Aspinall. Well, the former heavyweight kingpin did state at the UFC 309 presser, “I want to fight dangerous, established champions.” Back then, Aspinall wasn’t the official champion, so Payton might be thinking along the same lines.

Now that Aspinall holds the belt, and Jones has already said he’d like to be the “hunter” once again, the chances of this fight happening at the UFC White House main event look much stronger. If the Brit ends up holding the belt. However, speaking of that, a former champion has already named this heavyweight clash as one of his dream fights for the card. Let’s check it out!  

Sean O’Malley puts Jon Jones vs Tom Aspinall on his dream UFC White House card

The UFC White House card is still a year away, yet dream matchups for the South Lawn are already starting to surface. Conor McGregor has submitted his urine and blood samples and re-entered the anti-doping pool for a potential return. That immediately raised the question—who would headline the card, since both Jones and McGregor have shown interest?

According to Sean O’Malley, both could feature on the card. On the Overdogs podcast, ‘Suga’ said, “We could pick whatever. Conor vs. Ilia would probably be the top. Izzy vs. Strickland 2 — I would like to see that. I think that’d be a banger up there. Jones vs. Aspinall is the fight that everyone wants to see. Me vs. Cory… me vs. Petr 2, I think that would be a banger.”

That’s one stacked lineup for what could be the promotion’s biggest card ever! Former American champions like Sean O’Malley, Jon Jones, and Sean Strickland would bring plenty of homegrown star power, while global icons like Conor McGregor and Israel Adesanya would add even more spectacle. Still, with the event so far away, a lot can change between now and the event.

That being said, what do you think? Now that Jon Jones is back in the testing pool! Will he finally face Tom Aspinall or Ciryl Gane for the heavyweight belt at UFC White House? Drop your thoughts below!