UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones continues to ponder unifying the heavyweight belts in a showdown with Tom Aspinall.

Jon Jones continues to tease UFC fans about his fighting future months after beginning negotiations with the promotion to fight interim titleholder Tom Aspinall. Jones nearly broke the internet earlier this week when a leaked conversation with a fighter featured the heavyweight champ declaring ‘I’m done’ when pushed about his activity in the Octagon.

Jones didn’t take long to reverse course on that declaration, easing fan fears of a UFC retirement in a follow-up social media post. Afterwards, Aspinall shared footage of him ramping up his training camp work, reigniting fan excitement behind the possible Jones matchup.

But hours later, Jones revamped fears of the Aspinall fight not coming to fruition.

Jon Jones shares latest UFC retirement update after week of social media flip flops

Jones teased retirement in the lead-up to his UFC 309 win over Stipe Miocic, in his long-awaited first heavyweight title defense. He briefly eyed a matchup with Alex Pereira, over Aspinall, before Pereira lost the UFC light heavyweight title to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313.

After previously dismissing a showdown with Aspinall, due to personal disdain towards the interim titleholder, Jones reversed course in his post-fight interview at UFC 309 with Joe Rogan. But six months removed from UFC 309, Jones and Aspinall don’t seem closer to having a matchup come to fruition.

Jones’s latest comments won’t help quell UFC fans’ fears of the all-time great walking away before fighting Aspinall.

In a recent post on X, Jones answered a fan who asked him about how it feels to be a retired athlete.

“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,” Jones answered.

“I’m genuinely enjoying life, I’m growing in different ways.”

UFC fans weren’t hearing it from Jones after his latest remarks.

“Just stop holding the belt hostage,” one fan replied on X.

“So you don’t want the smoke with Tommy?” another said.

“Your identity outside of fighting is absolutely horrendous, mate. This is the one time in your whole career where you have a fight that the fans truly want to see, you’ll get paid well for it, and you’re running away?”

“Just vacate the title admit retirement and you won’t have to see a British animal in your nightmares any longer.”

“Jon is severely retired.”

“After all your time in the UFC and everything it has given you then don’t you feel you owe it to the company to let the heavyweight division move on?”

“Bro thinks he’s the main character still. Never was the biggest draw and never will be.”

“Terrified of a polite English man.”

As of this writing, Jones hasn’t provided further comment on the state of the Aspinall fight and a potential retirement from MMA.

Jon Jones vs. Nate Diaz reality TV show cancelled after chaotic on-set brawl

Jones’s scheduled reality television showdown with Nate Diaz was abruptly cancelled after a chaotic on-set brawl between fighters and Diaz’s team. After the incident, several Russian fighters stalked Diaz and his team around Thailand on motorcycles in an attempt to intimidate the former UFC superstar.

Diaz and Jones were supposed to square off as coaches on a spinoff of The Ultimate Fighter in Thailand, featuring many promising MMA prospects in the region. Jones coached TUF once during his legendary career opposite Chael Sonnen.

As Jones continues to enjoy some down time in Thailand, many UFC fans are beginning to lose their patience with the UFC heavyweight champion. But UFC CEO Dana White remains adamant that the promotion will book the Jones vs. Aspinall showdown for later this year.

The final national champions of the season have been crowned and now you can see how they struck gold!

Our Rewind highlights package from the Mark Bates Ltd Junior & Under-21 Nationals is available now on YouTube.

Watch the best bits from all nine competitions in Kettering and hear from the champions – watch below or head over to our YouTube channel.

Up to seven tables were live-streamed over the weekend. Fancy watching the finals in full? No problem – we’ve got them all at TTE.TV. Click here to choose your match.

Photos from the event, by Table Tennis England’s Official Photographer Michael Loveder, are also available to buy on PhotoShelter.

Click below to browse photos.

To catch up on our reports, click below.

Goals were expected to be in short supply between Geneva and Bartlett on Tuesday.

The Class 3A St. Charles East regional semifinal pitted two teams that have struggled to find the back of the net, especially late in the season. The Hawks failed to score a goal in their final two games, losing consecutive games 1-0 to West Chicago and Geneva.

The Vikings, meanwhile, entered the playoffs with similar issues.

After a late start due to a lightning delay in the opening semifinal, the Hawks and Vikings hooked for up for a scoreless match in the first half. Offensive shots were a rarity, except for the occasional corner or free kick.

Geneva junior forward Audrey Stredde finally stepped to the forefront, scoring a goal from three yards out in the 74th minute for a 1-0 victory over the Hawks. The Vikings (5-11-4) will play St. Charles East for the championship at 6 p.m. Friday.

“The ball came back to me and I just hit it again,” Stredde said. “We had the momentum going and just had to finish it. I was not letting that ball go out of the box, and I got it in. The ball bounced back to me. I was wide open and had two shots and it went in. I wanted to score so bad.”

Geneva coach Megan Owens said the team’s tough schedule helped put them in position to win another regional title. The Vikings and Hawks finished in a scoreless tie earlier in the regular season.

“It feels good because we dominated the run of the play and were on their half of the field for the majority of time,” Owens said. “We graduated 10 seniors last year, so I knew we would be little bit young and it would be a rebuilding year, but I didn’t change our schedule. To beat the best, you have to play the best and you grow as a team. We’ve had a lot of positives, especially in the last two to three weeks of the season. It was a great team victory.”

The Vikings were aggressive in the second half, but Bartlett senior goalie Megan Kron, a captain who was named the Upstate Eight Conference West Division Keeper of the Year, was outstanding. Kron, who had six saves in the second half, had two highlight-reel saves in a three-minute segment right before Stredde’s goal, including a hard shot by Stredde in the 68th minute.

But Stredde found the back of the net following a long free kick by Ella Howard. In the middle of a group of players, Stredde fired a shot that was saved at first, but she managed to score off the rebound.

The Hawks (7-7-4) finished the season with three straight losses after putting together a three-game winning streak.

“We worked hard and were competitive, but the story of our season is we’ve struggled on the offensive end,” Bartlett coach Vince Revak said. “We’ve stayed in games defensively but it’s a matter of time when you are defending for 80 minutes that something will sneak through.”

In the first semifinal, host St. Charles East scored three goals in the first 11 minutes to post an 8-0 victory over Lake Park. The Saints (18-6-2) shrugged off Friday’s 2-0 loss to Wheaton Warrenville South by getting a hat trick and an assist from freshman sensation Mya Leon and two goals plus an assist from Sophia Wollenberg. The Lancers (5-14-1) did not have a single shot on goal.

“It was nice to get some confidence back for some players who haven’t been on the field in some time, and getting those minutes under us and getting some rhythm and finding the back of the net,” St. Charles East coach Vince DiNuzzo said. “Every game you win at this point is not something you take for granted. It’s win or go home.”

Kaizen: 1 year to climb Everest, the inspiring documentary by YouTuber Inoxtag, follows his incredible preparation to climb Everest. To be (re)discovered on Disney+ from May 21, 2025.

UFC lightweight Beneil Dariush still believes he could climb into title contention at 155 pounds with a few big wins.

For the longest time now, Beneil Dariush has been a notable contender in the lightweight division. However, after a few poor results in his last few outings, many have been left to wonder whether or not he still belongs in the elite class. Of course, he also has big wins under his belt, but the top 15 is starting to look incredibly stacked once again.

RELATED: Beneil Dariush reveals what Dana White did to make up for UFC 311 fight falling through

At UFC 317, Dariush will get the chance to prove himself when he locks horns with Renato Moicano. While it may not be a ‘do or die’ situation for his mixed martial arts career, he’ll certainly need to get through Moicano if he wants to even come close to a world championship opportunity.

In a recent interview, Dariush spoke candidly about his ambitions and his desire to go for gold.

Julia Ramos had asked a judge to bar the boys from playing on their driveway basketball hoop.