There is growing support behind the movement to remove Jon Jones from
his position as
UFC heavyweight champion.
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As of Wednesday afternoon, an online petition “to strip Jon Jones
of the Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Belt” had garnered more than
125,000 signatures on Change.org. The statement on the petition page
is as follows:
Jon Jones is now the longest reigning champion in UFC
heavyweight history and has only fought [two] times in that
period. There is a clear interim champion, Tom Aspinall, who
has defended his interim championship belt. Aspinall is ready to
fight Jones. Jones refuses to fight him. Therefore, we as fans must
let Dana White know: It is time to strip Jon Jones of the
heavyweight title. He clearly has no intentions of fighting anytime
soon.
Jones claimed the vacant heavyweight crown with a submission of
Ciryl
Gane at UFC 285 in March 2023. Even after Tom
Aspinall captured the interim heavyweight belt in Jones’ injury
absence, “Bones” insisted on a legacy fight against Stipe
Miocic, which he won via third-round TKO at UFC 309 this past
November.
After that victory, Jones indicated that it would take an extremely
lucrative payday to get him to accept a fight against Aspinall.
Since then, UFC CEO Dana White has since expressed confidence that
the fight will happen, but Aspinall and fans have grown frustrated
with the lack of updates on the proposed bout.
Jones hasn’t seemed concerned about the backlash in his responses
on social media, responding to detractors that he’s “living his
best life.”
“Stripped? Lol, do I come across as the type of person who cares
about things like that,” Jones recently wrote on X.
Stripped? Lol do I come across as the type
of person who cares about things like that ? https://t.co/wZANsZgEki— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones)
May 19, 2025
Jones has also indicated that he is in no hurry to fight when asked
about retirement.
I don’t know if I wanna call it retired, I feel like I’ll always
have an ability to pop out and show em,” he wrote. “I’ve had many
breaks throughout my career, my identity outside of fighting is
well intact. I’m genuinely enjoying life, I’m growing in different
way.”
I don’t know if I wanna call it retired, I
feel like I’ll always have an ability to pop out and show em. I’ve
had many breaks throughout my career, my identity outside of
fighting is well intact. I’m genuinely enjoying life, I’m growing
in different ways. https://t.co/XuH1diQVr1— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones)
May 21, 2025
While the petition is indicative of the growing discontent
surrounding the status of the UFC’s heavyweight division, it isn’t
likely to have an impact on the promotion’s decision making.
However, longtime Jones rival Daniel
Cormier believes “Bones” will eventually accept the fight
because his ego won’t allow him to vacate the belt.
„I don’t know that he vacates without fighting him because I think
the visual and the lasting thought would be that ‚he ran from him,‘
and I don’t know his ego could handle that he ran from someone,“
Cormier said on the „Funky and the Champ“ show with Ben Askren. „The idea that people would think he is afraid means more to him
than going out there and fighting him and taking the chance.
„Especially when there’s a real possibility that he just outclasses
Tom Aspinall. You don’t know. I think that he will fight him. I
don’t think they’ll need to strip him, I think he’ll fight him. He
could walk away and go, ‚I’m the best, I don’t need to do anything
else.‘ The idea that he ran is going to be too strong of a pull for
him as he goes into the next phase of his career.“