Francis Ngannou’s 7-Word Tweet After Jon Jones’ UFC Retirement

In shocking late-night news, Dana White announced in a press conference that Jon Jones had officially retired from the UFC. The 37-year-old American had long been expected to fight Tom Aspinall after White “100%” guaranteed the fight would happen back in December last year. However, that fight is no more, and as a result, Aspinall has been crowned the new undisputed heavyweight champion.

On social media, Aspinall reacted to the decision by getting the fans on side, while taking a shot at Jones in the process. The popular Brit captioned a post with: “For you fans. It’s time to get this heavyweight division going. An active undisputed champion.”

Jon Jones & Tom Aspinall’s professional MMA records (as of 22/06/25)
	Jon Jones	Tom Aspinall
Fights	30	18
Wins	28	15
Losses	1	3
No contests	1	0

This shot at Jones is one that he’s used before. Almost a year ago, on Michael Bisping’s BelieveYouMePodcast, he predicted that Jones would choose to avoid fighting him, retiring from the sport in the process. Aspinall said that the American never declared a desire to make the fight happen, and also bravely stated, “I will retire Jon Jones without even fighting him.” A huge claim at the time that has now rung true.

With the belt around Tom Aspinall’s waist, fans quickly started thinking about what the next title fight would be in the UFC heavyweight division. The Brit declared himself an active champion and will want to get a win under his belt quickly to solidify his new status.

Francis Ngannou’s Return to UFC Openly Discussed

Dana White doesn’t seem keen, but never say never in MMA

One name people started talking about straight away was Francis Ngannou. The Cameroonian and French dual national previously competed in the UFC from 2015 to 2022 before transitioning to boxing and fighting the likes of Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, who offered some brutal knockouts to win in style last year.

Upon the suggestion that Ngannou could return to the UFC, Dana White shut down the chances that it was a possibility. “One thing I’ve learned over the years about Francis is that he doesn’t always mean what he says publicly. What he says behind the scenes is sometimes very different to what he says publicly. I’m not a big fan. I would be shocked if Francis ever came back here on many different levels. I’m not a fan, and he doesn’t always mean what he says.”

This knockdown was very strong from White, clearly insinuating that bridges have been burnt between the UFC and Ngannou, and a future relationship together is unlikely. The former heavyweight champ did, however, put out a tweet shortly afterwards about the situation.

With Aspinall’s next fight unclear and Dana White speaking about him in the same press conference as the Jon Jones bombshell, everyone was interested to hear from Ngannou.

His post simply read, “Did I say I’m ever coming back?” Ngannou seems to suggest that he’s happy with his career away from the UFC and doesn’t need to come back. It’s well known that Ngannou fell out with White over contract talks and walked away from the UFC because of it. It seems like there’s no love lost between the two as this fresh argument comes to light.

What’s next for the UFC heavyweight division remains to be seen, but with Aspinall promising to be active, unlike Jones, and Ngannou seemingly keen on returning to MMA at some point down the line, don’t rule out a possible dream fight between the two.