5 reasons why the UFC should strip Jon Jones of the heavyweight title

Current heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones is undoubtedly one of the biggest stars in UFC history. However, whether he should still hold his title is up for debate.

Right now, Jon Jones is rehabbing a serious injury while he waits for his date with Stipe Miocic – but should the UFC really allow him to remain their heavyweight champion?

With interim titleholder Tom Aspinall waiting in the wings for his own shot at destiny, there’s definitely a fair argument for stripping ‘Bones’.

With that considered, here are five reasons why the UFC should strip Jon Jones of his heavyweight title.

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#5. Other UFC champions have been stripped for less

Conor McGregor was stripped of his lightweight title in 2018 [Image Credit: @thenotoriousmma on Instagram]

While the UFC likes to claim to be a meritocracy of sorts, it’s probably fair to argue that the promotion has never treated all of its fighters – and its champions – equally.

Obviously, it’s made sense for Dana White and company to treat big stars like Conor McGregor, Brock Lesnar, and Ronda Rousey more favorably than others over the years. After all, those fighters were, at one time, the biggest drawing cards in the promotion.

However, on the majority of occasions, the UFC has always put itself above any single fighter, regardless of their star power.

Over the years, that’s often meant that champions have been stripped of their titles, often for differing reasons.

The most common reason, though, has tended to be inactivity. Even McGregor saw his lightweight title taken away from him in 2018 when he chose to take a lengthy period off to box Floyd Mayweather.

Jon Jones – who has already been stripped of the light-heavyweight title twice during his 16-year stint in the octagon – claimed the heavyweight title last March by defeating Ciryl Gane.

Since then, though, he has not fought and is currently on the shelf recovering from both a torn pectoral muscle and elbow surgery.

Given that we don’t have anything close to a concrete return date for ‘Bones’, then he could be out for well over a year.

Given that other champions were stripped after being sidelined for a similar period, the same should happen to Jones.

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#4. Jon Jones may not even be the UFC’s best heavyweight anyway

Could interim champion Tom Aspinall actually be the UFC's best heavyweight? [Image Credit: @tomaspinallofficial on Instagram]

While the UFC has not really been shy of stripping its champions over the years – or encouraging them to vacate their titles if they’re facing a lengthy layoff – more dominant titleholders do tend to be given more leeway.

However, while Jon Jones is definitely one of the greatest fighters of all time, whether he’s actually the UFC’s most dominant heavyweight right now is very much up for debate.

‘Bones’ has just one win to his name in the division, and while that was an impressive, one-sided submission of former interim titleholder Ciryl Gane, it doesn’t give him the strongest resume.

Current interim titleholder Tom Aspinall, on the other hand, holds wins over four of the current top fifteen, including No.3 ranked Sergei Pavlovich and No.6 ranked Alexander Volkov.

Does his overall ledger match up to Jones’? No, but at heavyweight, he’s far more proven, as are the likes of Pavlovich, as well as other contenders like Curtis Blaydes and Jailton Almeida. They’ve been knocking off ranked heavyweights for some time, something Jones has not yet done.

‘Bones’ is definitely a pound-for-pound great, but whether he’s the best heavyweight in the UFC is debatable. So, the protection from stripping usually offered to a dominant champion shouldn’t hold water here.

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#3. The UFC owes Jon Jones nothing

One common criticism of the UFC is that the promotion treats its “company men” – and women – differently to fighters who might push back against them at points.

That’s why the likes of Daniel Cormier, Forrest Griffin, and Michael Bisping still feature on UFC programming, while the likes of Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz are now persona non grata with the promotion.

However, the counter-argument to this criticism is a simple one: why should the UFC not reward loyalty?

In the case of Jon Jones, though, it’s fair to suggest that the UFC owes him absolutely nothing.

While he’s never outright left the promotion after a contract dispute like previous heavyweight kingpin Francis Ngannou, he’s certainly caused them plenty of grief over the years.

Jones has been suspended on numerous occasions for drug test failures and poor conduct out of the octagon and even forced the promotion to move UFC 232 from Las Vegas to Inglewood after a testing controversy in 2018.

His refusal to face Chael Sonnen on late notice in 2012 indirectly resulted in the cancellation of UFC 151, and he hasn’t been shy about retiring when it comes to his pay packet, either.

In fact, Jones sat out for the best part of three years between 2020 and 2023 due to financial disagreements with Dana White and the company.

Essentially, it’s arguable that no other fighter has caused quite so much hassle for the UFC as Jones, and so they should not offer him any kind of favorable treatment when it comes to their decision of whether to strip him of his title.

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#2. Jon Jones’ “legacy fight” with Stipe Miocic does not need the heavyweight title

Right now, Jon Jones clearly has his sights set on a fight with Stipe Miocic. The former UFC heavyweight champion has not fought since losing his title to Francis Ngannou in early 2021, but he’s still widely recognized as the most accomplished heavyweight in UFC history.

There’s no disputing that a fight between ‘Bones’ and Miocic would be a big one, even if it’s arguable that neither man is quite in his prime anymore.

In Jones’ eyes – and in the eyes of plenty of fans across the world – a win over Miocic would elevate him to an untouchable level in the overall pantheon of greats.

However, regardless of the truth of that statement, the fact is that, right now, Miocic does not warrant a shot at the heavyweight title.

Not only has the Cleveland native not fought since that loss to Ngannou, but even prior to that, he hadn’t fought in almost a year. His last victory in the octagon came over Daniel Cormier in the summer of 2020, and ‘DC’ is long since retired.

Therefore, while a fight between ‘Bones’ and Miocic makes sense for Jones’ legacy, it neither needs nor warrants the involvement of the heavyweight title.

Essentially, the UFC would be better off stripping Jones, putting together this bout, and then letting both fighters ride into the sunset afterward.

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#1. Jon Jones has no interest in fighting Tom Aspinall in a unification bout

Jon Jones does not seem willing to face Tom Aspinall any time soon [Image Credit: @tomaspinallofficial on Instagram]

Perhaps the biggest reason to justify the UFC stripping Jon Jones of his heavyweight title is the fact that he seems thoroughly uninterested in fighting interim titleholder Tom Aspinall in a unification bout.

The two rivals have recently become embroiled in a bitter war of words on social media site X, with Aspinall pleading his case for a potential fight with ‘Bones’ and the current champ looking to shut him down.

However, based on Dana White’s willingness to let Jones face Stipe Miocic as his first fight back – and the likelihood of ‘Bones’ then retiring afterward – it seems like Aspinall will not get his wish.

If that remains the case, then it begs the question of the point of crowning Aspinall as an interim champion in the first place.

Based on the fact that he knocked out top contender Sergei Pavlovich and the fact that he’s done nothing to warrant being stripped, though, it seems unfair to take the Liverpool native’s title away.

Jones, on the other hand, seems to be outright refusing to face the most logical challenger to his crown.

Historically, this is something that’s never gone down too well with the UFC. In fact, in 2017, Germaine de Randamie was stripped of her featherweight title when she refused to face Cris Cyborg.

Sure, De Randamie is not the star that Jones is, but that’s beside the point. If he isn’t willing to unify the titles in a clash with Aspinall, he really ought to be stripped.