Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones has officially broken his silence (and it doesn’t include social media).
During a visit on the ESPYs red carpet Wednesday, Jones, who tweeted June 21 he had retired from MMA and vacated the UFC heavyweight title, officially confirmed his retirement was premature following a series of tweets during the Fourth of July weekend revealing he had re-entered the UFC’s drug testing pool.
Jon Jones explains why he decided to come out of retirement:
“To be able to entertain the country and the world at this level at the White House means the world to me.
I’m back.” 👀👀
🎥 @espn #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/gv7dfBRbXi
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) July 17, 2025
“I was retired,” Jones said. “I felt like I was at a place where I’ve done it all in the MMA space and felt like there wasn’t too many more challengers for me and I just wanted to do something more than [winning] championships and [making] money.”
Jul 16, 2025; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Jon Jones on the red carpet before the ESPYS at The Dolby Theatre. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
That something more – the White House UFC event tentatively planned for July 4 next year in Washington, D.C., of course.
“Donald Trump mentioned he wanted to have a [UFC] fight at the White House garden, you know,” Jones said. “That just seems like such a huge opportunity. I’m a very proud American. I have a lot of very close friends that are in the military. This is my–this is my, I can’t call it service, but to be able to entertain the country and the world at this level at the White House means the world to me.”
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As if it wasn’t obvious already, Jones had another mic drop moment.
“I’m back,” Jones said.
In a video released by TikTok creator “Joy of Everything,” Jones says he is open to fighting all challengers upon his return. This includes elevated Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall.
🚨 Jon Jones wants to fight whoever is the heavyweight champion by the end of the year at the White House 👀
“As of right now the champion is Tom Aspinall, but we’ll see who’s the champion at the end of the year.”
🎥 TT / Joy Of Everything #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/h6mmCgqqt4
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) July 16, 2025
“As of right now, the champion is Tom Aspinall, but we’ll see who’s the champion at the end of the year,” Jones said.
UFC
Aspinall is still awaiting his next opponent, having been inactive for nearly a year after defending his then-interim title.
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For now, the drama at heavyweight continues to heat up.
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