Jon Jones

Jon Jones has dominated the light heavyweight division for years and is potentially looking for a new challenge at heavyweight after Stipe Miocic defended his championship against Daniel Cormier on Saturday at UFC 252:

Jones is the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC and has consistently defended his light heavyweight belt, but a battle against Miocic would certainly turn heads. However, Francis Ngannou indicated that he's next in line in the division.

"Come on, Jonny. I'm still right here. You can sit down and wait your turn," Ngannou said, per Brett Okamoto of ESPN. "I would be shocked if UFC let him pass me."

Ngannou is currently the No. 2 contender in the heavyweight division behind only Cormier, who announced his retirement following his loss.

The 33-year-old has also been one of the hottest fighters in the UFC, winning his last four fights via first-round knockout.

UFC President Dana White has already clarified that Ngannou would get his rematch against Miocic after losing by unanimous decision in January 2018.

"Francis is definitely next," White told reporters Saturday after UFC 252. "I mean, you can't jump over Francis. Francis has been out there destroying everybody, and if you look at how long ago it was that he got that title shot (against Miocic), he's worked his way back. It belongs to Francis Ngannou. But yeah, Jon Jones going to heavyweight is very interesting."

It's easy to get excited about Jones' future in heavyweight, especially considering he's already beaten the top two contenders in his own division in Dominick Reyes and Thiago Santos.

He indicated he would be able to take on Miocic:

Jones beat Cormier twice in the light heavyweight division, although one was overturned to a no contest after a failed drug test.

If Jones does move up a weight class, Miocic could be in for a tough slate of matches going forward.

Javier Mendez, the coach for UFC star Daniel Cormier, believes the former two-division champion would delay his retirement for an opportunity at a third fight with Jon Jones.

Mendez spoke with ESPN's Brett Okamoto about the potential of a second straight trilogy fight for Cormier, who's scheduled for a rubber match with Stipe Miocic at UFC 252 next Saturday:

In June, the 41-year-old Louisiana native announced he was planning to retire from MMA, regardless of the result in the heavyweight title clash with Miocic.

His intense rivalry with Jones will always be mentioned while discussing his terrific career, however, and it's no surprise they're still being linked in the final stages of DC's career.

Cormier told Damon Martin of MMA Fighting the two will never be best friends but that he respects the battles he's had with Jones inside the Octagon.

"I do respect him as a competitor. I never said I didn't," he said. "That's where it gets all confused when they talk about this thing between him and I. I never not respected him as a competitor. It was all the other stuff I had a problem with. I never did that. If you're an honest guy, which I try to think I am, you tell the truth. You can respect a person for their skills. I do respect those skills."

Jones won their first meeting by unanimous decision in January 2015. He knocked out Cormier in a July 2017 rematch, but the result was overturned after he tested positive for a steroid, Turinabol, before the fight.

It seems unlikely Cormier is going to alter his retirement plans, especially if he suffers a second straight loss to Miocic next week that would raise questions about his ability to continue contending for titles.

Perhaps one more clash with Jones is the singular fight that could get him to change his mind. At least Mendez thinks so.

UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has his eyes on one of the most iconic fighters in the history of mixed martial arts following his unanimous-decision victory over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 251.

Speaking to TMZ Sports, Usman said he would relish the opportunity to fight Georges St-Pierre if the UFC let him pick his next opponent.

It seems unlikely that Usman will get his wish, however, because St-Pierre announced his retirement in February 2019. 

"I always said I wanted to retire on my own and not be told to retire," St-Pierre told reporters. "It takes discipline. In combat sports, that's how you should retire. You should retire on top. That is very hard to do. I'm happy I have the discipline and the wisdom to do it."

St-Pierre, 39, is the most dominant welterweight in UFC history with a 20-2 record at 170 pounds in the promotion. He's only fought once in the past six years, when he moved up in weight and defeated Michael Bisping for the middleweight title in November 2017.

Usman is undefeated in his UFC career (12-0) and has just one loss in 18 professional fights. The Nigerian Nightmare's run of 12 consecutive wins in the UFC is tied with Khabib Nurmagomedov for the longest active streak in the company if you don't include Jon Jones (no contest versus Daniel Cormier).

UFC President Dana White said he's hopeful light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will eventually step inside the Octagon again despite a contract dispute with the MMA promotion.

White told TMZ Sports in an interview released Friday they've tried to hold talks with Jones, but he's sticking firm in his desire for increased pay.

"Listen, Jon Jones—we've offered—my lawyer offered to have Jon Jones come out and walk Jon Jones through the numbers, and Jon Jones was like: 'I don't give a f--k what the numbers are. This is what I want, and that's that,'" he said.

When asked whether one of the UFC's biggest draws would return, White replied: "I hope so, but that's up to him ... if he decides to never fight again, that's up to him."

Jones has hinted toward retirement in recent months amid the pay dispute.

"Honestly no, not in the stage of my career," he wrote on Twitter in May when asked whether legacy was more important than money. "I could retire today. I've already done my job. I've given this company over a decade of entertainment."

The 32-year-old New York native remained steadfast in that stance during an appearance on the Wild Ride! w/ Steve-O podcast in June, per TMZ.

"I don't want to fight soon," Jones said. "... I have no interest in fighting in the UFC until I get paid what I believe I'm worth."

Jones last fought in February, when he scored a victory by unanimous decision over Dominick Reyes to defend the light heavyweight title and move his career record to 26-1 with one no contest.

White admitted the ball is in Jones' court since his financial situation doesn't leave him in a spot where he has to fight.

"I don't know," White told TMZ. "Jon Jones has enough money to retire. He can retire. The whole Jon Jones thing has been a roller-coaster ride for many, many years. Nothing surprises me with Jon Jones."

Jones' estimated net worth is $10 million, which ranks tied for 15th all time among MMA fighters, per Dan Western of Wealthy Gorilla.

The silver lining for the UFC is Jorge Masvidal, who went through his own contract dispute, recently signed a new multifight deal with the company.

He'll help headline UFC 251 when he takes on Kamaru Usman in a welterweight championship fight Saturday night from Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.

White and Co. will hope for a similar resolution with Jones in the months ahead.

Buckle up, it might be a long time before we see Jon Jones inside a UFC Octagon. 

The light heavyweight champion continued his public feud with the promotion he has fought for since 2008. This time, he gave some specifics on just how long he is willing to sit out if the UFC's pay structure doesn't see significant changes.

Appearing on Steve-O's "Wild Ride" podcast, Jones continued to express his frustrations over his pay. 

"I don't want to fight soon," Jones said (h/t Dave Doyle of MMAjunkie). "I have no interest in fighting in the UFC until I get paid what I believe I'm worth."

Jones and the company have been publicly feuding since the champion's win over Dominick Reyes in February. Bones and Francis Ngannou built up a fight on Twitter that would have seen the champ move up to heavyweight for the first time in his career, but it fell through in the negotiations, according to Jones. 

After taking "some time to think" Jones initially said in May he would continue in the light heavyweight division and told Jan Blachowicz he would be next. However, it looks like he's doubling down on his threat to walk away from the sport, at least for an extended period of time. 

As Jones sees it, he's doing it for the younger fighters in the company, not just himself. 

"If I have to have a bad relationship with Dana [White, president of UFC], sit out for two years, three years, to bring light to what's happening, then these are the things people remember you for more than winning belts. I stood for the younger fighters," Jones said. 

Jones also pointed out what he has seen younger fighters who live at the gym because they can't afford their own housing despite competing in the UFC. 

Pay has been a continuous issue in the UFC. The latest Forbes list of the top 100 paid athletes features one MMA fighter, Conor McGregor (16th), while boxing has three fighters in the top 20 alone. Much of McGregor's wealth can be traced back to his one foray into boxing.  

Should Jones follow through with his threat, it would leave a fairly significant hole in the UFC's roster. Either Jones or career rival Daniel Cormier has been the light heavyweight champion since 2011. The former may not be the biggest draw, but he is still a star in an organization that needs them. 

He's not the only one who appears to be coming to the end of his active days. McGregor retired from the sport on June 6 having fought just once in the last two years against Donald Cerrone. Cormier is set to retire after his next fight with Stipe Miocic, and Nate Diaz has been missing in action since November 2019. 

In a sport that relies so much on pay-per-view buys and marketable stars, how the UFC handles one of its biggest stars publicly holding out could play a large role in how the organization moves forward.

Masvidal Open to Fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov

One of those stars the UFC has developed of late is Jorge Masvidal. Gamebred has risen from a gate-keeping veteran to legitimate main event talent in the last two years with wins over Darren Till, Ben Askren and Diaz. 

The fight with Diaz drew the second-largest live gate in New York in UFC history at over $6.5 million. 

The 35-year-old has had grievances of his own having to do with fighter pay. He even asked for his release on Twitter on June 5, saying "If I'm not worth it let me go." He was soon passed over for the next shot at Kamaru Usman's title. 

Instead the UFC booked the champion to defend his belt against Gilbert Burns and leaving one of their current top draws on the shelf. 

Masvidal isn't taking the same road as Jones, though. The BMF champion recently expressed his respect for Khabib Nurmagomedov and said he would be interested in cutting down to lightweight if the price was right. 

The idea of Masvidal fighting Nurmagomedov is a fun one. The lightweight champion is undefeated, and his relentless grappling style would be difficult for Gamebred to deal with, but it would be a marketable fight. 

The problem is that there isn't a shortage of marketable fights in the lightweight division. The Eagle has become one of the most recognizable names in the sport off of his feud and subsequent victory over Conor McGregor. 

Justin Gaethje is one of the most exciting fighters in the sport and is currently interim champion, and a fight with Tony Ferguson still has intrigue. 

At this point, it appears only the biggest money fights are going to lure Masvidal out of inactivity. Unfortunately for him, it doesn't seem like a move down to lightweight is one of the fights the UFC would go out of its way to make.   

If you had Mike Tyson in your "Who will Jon Jones call out next?" office pool, come on down, you're a big winner. 

Bones has been playing matchmaker for himself on social media since his latest light heavyweight title defense against Dominick Reyes in February.

First, it was Francis Ngannou but contract negotiations put the kibosh on that and a move to heavyweight, but it appears he has now set his sights on another heavyweight: Mike Tyson. 

In an online chat last week, the former boxer said: "Jon Jones gotta fight me if he wants to make some super money.”

Bones responded in kind but has a stipulation: Iron Mike would need to give him a grudge match in the Octagon.

"I'll box you in the ring if you promise to give me a real fight in the Octagon afterwards. And because I respect you so much, I promise I won’t break anything on you," the light heavyweight champion wrote in an Instagram post addressed to Tyson. 

Tyson will soon turn 54 years old and hasn't boxed since 2005 but has talked about making a comeback. 

Will this result in the biggest boxing vs. MMA crossover since Conor McGregor laced up the gloves against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017? Not likely, but it is endemic of the situation Jones appears to be in with the UFC right now. With no future fight scheduled and a feud over pay brewing, it's not surprising that he's making headlines by teasing a crossover fight. 

Jones longtime rival, Daniel Cormier, was reasonably dubious of the whole idea:

For the sake of fight fans, let's hope the UFC and Jones are able to come to an agreement on his next appearance against legitimate competition in MMA at either light heavyweight or heavyweight so that he is back to business as usual inside the cage.

Josh Emmett's Extensive Injuries Top UFC on ESPN 11 Aftermath

UFC on ESPN 11 may already be in the rear-view, with Dustin Poirier vs. Dan Hooker set to go off Saturday, but there's still some aftermath from the latest Las Vegas card being sorted out in the days after the event. 

The card got off to a controversial start with a second-round TKO loss for Max Rohskopf, who was making his UFC debut.

The fight was waved off by the referee when the 25-year-old refused to answer the bell going into the third round but it wasn't for a lack of his corner trying to motivate him to continue. 

Rohskopf continually expressed to his corner that he wanted them to call the fight in a moment that was picked up by the cameras and shared on Twitter. The decision for trainer Robert Drysdale to continue to push his fighter and not throw in the towel was received with criticism.

However, Drysdale defended himself in an interview with Ariel Helwani of ESPN: 

The situation demonstrates the difficult job trainers have. In a sport that carries an inherent risk of injury and requires mental fortitude to continue to fight, the corner has to toe the line between encouraging and empowering their fighter to press through when it is safe to do so and call it when their charge is not. 

To compound that difficulty, the coach arguably knows the athlete better than anyone. Drysdale maintained in his comments that he know Rohskopf would regret ending the fight and that was his motivation for sending him back into action. 

The most impactful news from Saturday night's action, though, was the unfortunate laundry list of injuries Josh Emmett suffered in his unanimous decision win over Shane Burgos.

The featherweight earned a big win but suffered a list of injuries that looks like a season recap from Jackass:

The torn ACL obviously highlights the list and should put Emmett on the shelf for a considerable time.

However, it comes at an unfortunate time in his career. The 35-year-old put on his most complete performance to date in a win that should have set him up with a top-five opponent next time out. 

Unfortunately, in a division as competitive as featherweight, an extended leave of absence could wipe out his momentum. 

Curtis Blaydes was another big winner on Saturday, but he's in a different situation entirely. As the clear-cut No. 3 contender in the division, he finds himself the odd man out in the title picture and at odds with UFC President Dana White. 

Per Steven Marrocco of MMA Fighting, White sounded off on his disappointment in Blaydes' performance after the fight, saying: "With his performance tonight and his cardio, I wouldn't wait around if I was him. I'd stay active. I'd stay busy." 

The 29-year-old was able to take Alexander Volkov down repeatedly in the main event on Saturday, but it didn't amount in significant damage. But Blaydes hit back with some frustration of his own, pointing out that he has already defeated several of the fighters ranked below him. 

It's the result of a bit of a logjam atop the division. With Cormier and Stipe Miocic breaking long layoffs with their trilogy fight in August and Francis Ngannou the clear next-in-line challenger with two wins over Blaydes already, the wrestler is in a no-man's-land. 

Whether he likes it or not, he's probably going to be forced to prove himself one more time before getting a crack at the strap. 

With the dust barely settled on UFC 250, some of the organization's biggest stars are already making headlines as the news cycle keeps churning. 

Of course, the man who can turn the cycle with just one tweet is at it again. Conor McGregor announced another retirement after the conclusion of Saturday night's pay-per-view event: 

The Irishman has "retired" from mixed martial arts before. The first time he took to social media to announce his decision in 2016 and repeated it in 2019. Neither of those retirements stuck, though, as he fought Nate Diaz four months after the first "retirement" and Donald Cerrone nine months after his second. 

The former two-division champion's explanation of his retirement sounds much more like a negotiation tactic than it does an actual farewell to the sport. McGregor cites a lack of interest in the current landscape for his decision. 

"The game just does not excite me, and that's that," he said, per Ariel Helwani of ESPN. "All this waiting around. There's nothing happening. I'm going through opponent options, and there's nothing really there at the minute. There's nothing that's exciting me."

The 31-year-old made waves after UFC 249 when he went on a rant and played matchmaker for the lightweight division. In his plan, he was interested in fighting Justin Gaethje and suggested Tony Ferguson and Dustin Poirier fight while sneaking in some barbs at rival Khabib Nurmagomedov. 

In his interview with Helwani, McGregor expressed frustration over the holdup in the division. The anticipated title fight between Gaethje and Nurmagomedov has yet to be scheduled. 

In related news, Floyd Mayweather Jr. took a shot at McGregor. He posted on his Instagram that, "if you decide to come back, I'll be waiting to punish you again," per Chamatkar Sandhu of  BT Sport. 

Both McGregor and Mayweather are masters of the fight promotion business. Both are also great at dancing around actual fighting and building up hype. There's a reason why they are the biggest draws in their respective sports. 

A rematch in the boxing ring could be brewing, but this seems more like Mayweather having some fun and McGregor gaining leverage to negotiate a comeback fight down the line. 

Cejudo Calls Out Volkanovski

Speaking of dubious retirements, it didn't take Henry Cejudo long to leave the door open for a return to the Octagon. 

Triple C didn't even make it a month from his surprise retirement on May 9 before talking about a comeback. The former Olympic gold medalist told TMZ he would be willing to come back to go for his third UFC title in a fight with Alexander Volkanovski. 

"I want a third title because I want to be different," Cejudo said. "To go into the history books as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time."

The 33-year-old is one of just four fighters to simultaneously hold belts in two different weight classes. Should he come back and beat Volkanovski, he would be the first to win a belt in three different divisions. 

That would be a tall task for the former flyweight champion. Not only would he be at a significant size disadvantage at 5'4" and a 64-inch reach against the 5'6" Australian with the 71-inch reach, but Volkanovski has also already beaten some great featherweights including Max Holloway, Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes. 

Cejudo is a great fighter who has had a Hall of Fame career. While this would ostensibly be a nice payday and the shot to sell more pay-per-views than he's ever managed, this isn't a fight he would be favored in. 

Jones Continues to Talk Hiatus

Jon Jones and the UFC haven't been on great terms recently. 

In May, he began tweeting about the possibility of moving up to heavyweight to fight Francis Ngannou (h/t Yahoo Sports). However, the idea was quickly nixed by Bones because, by his account, the UFC wasn't willing to pay him more to move up another weight class. 

The 32-year-old has never fought at heavyweight before and wants to be compensated more to take on the extra risk. 

Jones ultimately backed away from the negotiations for the heavyweight move entirely, lamenting that the UFC didn't see his value and let Jan Blachowicz know he would be his next opponent. 

Now Bones is speaking a different message as he amplifies his concern over fighter pay. On Monday, he hinted he might be taking an extended period of time off and hopes it will help other fighters in their quest to be compensated more. 

That was just one tweet in a long string of tweets about how much money the UFC has paid him throughout his career. It goes along with a theme in the UFC right now as Jorge Masvidal also took to social media to speak out about the way the organization does business. 

The outpouring of concern from some of the sport's top stars is a developing story that only appears to be getting bigger. Jones is the most dominant fighter with the company, Masvidal has risen to a new level of celebrity over the last few years, and McGregor is obviously angling for higher pay as well with his "retirement." 

This isn't likely to go away anytime soon whether Jones actually does sit out or not. 

Jon Jones announced Sunday he will relinquish his UFC light heavyweight title.

On Monday, UFC President Dana White responded.

"Jon Jones is one of the greatest to ever do it," White said in a statement (h/t Neil Davidson of the Canadian Press). "The decision he wants to make regarding his career is up to him. The reality is that he's made enough money from fighting that he's now in the position to retire and never work again in his life."

Jones and White have been in a public dispute over the former's financial draw for the UFC since what Jones called "unbelievable" negotiations for a potential fight against Francis Ngannou in late May:

Jones was fined $25,000 in 2015 for failing an out-of-competition drug test and served a 15-month ban from the sport for his second violation of the UFC's anti-doping policy that ended in October 2018. The star was arrested by Albuquerque Police for aggravated DWI, negligent use of a firearm, possession of an open container and no proof of insurance in late March.

Jones is 26-1 with a no contest in the UFC. The 32-year-old last fought Feb. 8 against Dominick Reyes. Jones defeated Reyes in a fifth-round decision.