Overview

• Jon Jones, 37, informed the UFC by phone on June 20 that he was stepping away, ending his tenure as a two-division titleholder with a 28-1 record.
• UFC president Dana White confirmed the retirement during a June 21 press conference in Baku, citing Jones’s call the previous night.
• Tom Aspinall, who had served as interim heavyweight champion, was automatically promoted to undisputed titleholder upon Jones’s retirement.
• Aspinall has pledged to revitalize a division that had been inactive for months and will outline his first title defense plans during UFC International Fight Week.
• Jones joins Georges St-Pierre and Khabib Nurmagomedov as one of only three fighters to retire from the UFC while holding a championship belt.