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Jon Jones fuels UFC comeback rumors with cryptic statement

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Drew Beaupre | Last updated Jul 7, 2025 1:17 PM ET

Former UFC star Jon Jones continues to feed the MMA rumor mill less than a month after his retirement from fighting.

The UFC’s ex-light heavyweight and heavyweight king last stepped into the Octagon last November at UFC 309, where Jones stopped heavyweight great Stipe Miocic to defend his heavyweight belt for the first time after he submitted Ciryl Gane to win the vacant strap the previous year.

Fans were hopeful that Jones' next outing would be a heavyweight title unification fight with interim titleholder Tom Aspinall, but the future Hall of Famer’s heavyweight career only ended up lasting two fights when Dana White announced after UFC Baku that “Bones” had officially retired.

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"The Hunter And Not The Hunted"

Jones’ decision to retire didn’t come as a massive surprise given how noncommittal he’d been about fighting Aspinall following his title defense against Miocic, but it only took a couple of weeks before the 37-year-old started to fuel rumors of a return by claiming that he’d re-entered the UFC fighter testing pool.

White will presumably be asked about the truth of Jones’ claim if the UFC CEO is present at UFC Nashville this weekend, and ahead of that event “Bones” has once again teased the idea of a comeback with his latest statement on social media.

It feels nice to be the hunter and not the hunted for once.
— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones) July 7, 2025

“It feels nice to be the hunter and not the hunted for once”

Jon Jones Doubles Down On White House UFC Fight

The former two-division champion’s initial comeback talk began after he got word about Donald Trump’s claim that there’d be a UFC fight and/or event at the White House next 4th of July, and Jones once again expressed interest in that idea with his comment on a fan-made graphic depicting a win over Aspinall.

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Jon Jones' comment on the graphic of him and Tom Aspinall at the White House. | (Instagram)

It didn’t take long after Aspinall was promoted to UFC heavyweight champion that the 32-year-old teased plans for his first undisputed title defense, but so far there’s been no confirmation from the UFC on who his opponent will be.

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Longtime MMA fans certainly wouldn’t be shocked if Jones decides to end his retirement and try to derail whatever the UFC currently has lined up for the heavyweight title, and if Aspinall does fight before the end of the year then there’s no doubt that “Bones” will have something to say about it.