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UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones suddenly revealed on social media Thursday evening that he might be headed into retirement. After arguably the briefest superfight negotiations in combat sports history, Jones took to Twitter five minutes after saying negotiations had begun with the UFC over his desired fight against heavyweight Francis Ngannou to say there simply wasn’t enough money on the table per UFC officials for that fight to even happen.
First, Jones cryptically posted, “unbelievable.”
Then, the 32-year-old followed that post up with, “Before even discussing numbers, the UFC was unwilling to pay more for the Francis super fight / for me to move to heavyweight. Said I could possibly earn more in pay-per-view buys.”
A frustrated Jones then said, “I could retire today. I’ve already done my job, I’ve given this company over a decade of entertainment.”
Finally, Jones revealed he might be retiring from MMA for good, or at least taking a long hiatus to think things over.
“It’s been fun you guys, maybe I’ll see you all in a year or two,” Jones said.
So Jones seems ready and willing to move up to heavyweight to face Ngannou, but the longtime pound-for-pound king also expected to be paid quite handsomely for it.
Read Jones Series of Tweets Revealing Potential Retirement
Jones doesn’t seem happy with how the whole thing unfolded, and by the end of his most recent blast of social media posts, the UFC’s most decorated fighter might have called it a career.
unbelievable
Before even discussing numbers, the UFC was unwilling to pay more for the Francis super fight / for me to move to heavyweight. Said I could possibly earn more in pay-per-view buys.
It’s been fun you guys, maybe I’ll see you all in a year or two.
Why Jones Retirement Might Make Sense
Look, Jones has been the best MMA fighter for over a decade now. He’s arguably never lost a fight, and the 32-year-old has long been on top of the sport’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Jones already vanquished his biggest historical rival Daniel Cormier, and one might even argue Jones has already gone through the UFC’s light heavyweight division more than once by now.
Is there anything left to prove at 205 pounds?
So Jones probably feels like he deserves to make top dollar in the sport, and there are not that many other fighters on the UFC’s roster right now (other than Conor McGregor) that have the same kind of argument.
If Jones were a boxer, he’d be Floyd Mayweather Jr. by now, and he’d make exponentially more money than he does as UFC light heavyweight champ.
So Jones probably isn’t wrong to desire more money than he usually makes to face arguably the biggest and scariest heavyweight knockout machine in MMA history.
Let’s put it another way: If Jones can’t reasonably earn a hefty enough sum of money to move up a division to heavyweight to face Ngannou next, then who else can?
Jones could end up retiring from the sport because the UFC isn’t interested in paying him what he’s worth.
To that end, one wonders after seeing Jones-Ngannou fall through whether the UFC is interested in paying anyone what their worth.
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Why UFC’s Jon Jones Might Have Just Retired