Jon Jones is a problem for the UFC
The inactivity of the heavyweight champion is blocking the division and preventing the company from promoting a potential star like Tom Aspinall.
Jon Jones is probably the best MMA fighter in history and consequently, the best in the UFC. His long career with an almost perfect record (only one defeat due to disqualification) contrasts with his terrible history of problems outside the cage that have given him the image of a conflictive person he will never be able to change.
Differently from what Jiri Prochazka and Jamahall Hill did, the heavyweight king refused to vacate his belt when he suffered a serious pectoral injury. Due to that setback, his fight with Stipe Miocic -expected to take place last November- was canceled. Since then Jon Jones has refused to accept a different opponent for a hypothetical clash that should take place at the end of the year.
His stubbornness has made that UFC’s most explosive division doesn’t have an active champion, so the company can’t offer any big fights that headline the numbered events. This blockage is negative for Tom Aspinall, interim champion and emerging star of the UFC. The English fighter is still waiting to get a title shot and avoid an interim championship defense, as there would be very little for him to win in that situation.
Jones follows his intuition
The best UFC fighter of all time wants to retire in the best possible way. Once he was crowned heavyweight champion, he announced his intention to beat the best in the division -as he spent almost his entire career in the light heavyweight category- and that is Stipe Miocic. Once he defeated the best at heavyweight, he would leave the sport with a career almost impossible to match.
The veteran fighter, born in Rochester, is aware of the danger of facing a new and better-prepared generation. In a division where the knockout power is gigantic, Jones probably wants to avoid the risk of suffering a loss that would completely change the narrative of his career. That’s why Bones is willing to wait for the older Miocic, a rival who suits him much better.