5 times that Jon Jones frustrated UFC fans

Reigning UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones is definitely one of the greatest fighters in MMA history. However, to many fans, he's also been one of the most frustrating.

Over his nearly two-decade career with the UFC, Jon Jones has made a number of decisions that have caused fans to become annoyed.

Whether all of these incidents were purely his fault remains debatable, but when everything adds up, it's no surprise that 'Bones' is as controversial as he is accomplished.

Here, then, are five times that Jon Jones frustrated UFC fans.

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#5. Delays to the fight between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans

The first really bitter rivalry Jon Jones had during his UFC career was with former teammate Rashad Evans.

Jones actually joined Greg Jackson's camp in Albuquerque to train with Evans. But after replacing 'Suga' in his planned light-heavyweight title bout with Shogun Rua and dethroning the Brazilian, things soon became strained.

Feeling he was being overlooked in favor of Jones, Evans left Albuquerque to form his own team, and immediately, it was clear that he was on a collision course with 'Bones'.

However, the fight was hit by a series of weird delays that caused some fans to treat Jones like the villain of the whole piece.

First, it was decided that Jones couldn't make a planned date in August 2011, leaving Evans to instead beat Tito Ortiz. The frustration in this instance came from the fact that Jones was back just seven weeks later, defending his title against Rampage Jackson.

Remarkably, the pattern followed just three months later, when Jones made his second defense against Lyoto Machida, despite Evans seemingly being ready to go. Indeed, 'Suga' beat Phil Davis just six weeks after Jones vs. Machida.

Who was to blame here? In all honesty, probably the UFC's notorious scheduling team, renowned even then for trying to pressurise fighters into competing on certain dates.

However, it's easy to see why fans became frustrated, with some accusing Jones of ducking his former teammate.

Eventually, of course, the two rivals did fight, with 'Bones' outpointing Evans over five rounds in the spring of 2012 to end their feud.

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#4. Jon Jones refuses to fight Chael Sonnen, resulting in the cancellation of UFC 151

While some fans were frustrated with Jon Jones during the build-up to his fight with Rashad Evans, the tipping point for even more was the incident that saw UFC 151 canceled.

The event was set to be headlined by a 205 pound title fight between Jones and Dan Henderson. However, with just over a week to go, it was announced that Henderson would be unable to compete after injuring his knee.

The UFC appeared to have pulled a rabbit out of the hat when middleweight contender Chael Sonnen agreed to step in to fight Jones on eight days' notice.

Remarkably, though, Jones instead decided to refuse the fight on the advice of his coach Greg Jackson, feeling it was too much of a risk.

In turn, the event was cancelled entirely, with the promotion - who, admittedly, had booked a shallow card - unable to find a suitable new headliner.

Naturally, Dana White in particular was furious, labeling Jackson a "sport killer" although he didn't outright hit out at Jones himself.

That wasn't the same for many UFC fans, though, who accused Jones of being afraid to face Sonnen.

While it was unlikely that 'Bones' was outright ducking 'The American Gangster', his decision to sidestep the fight was odd. After all, Sonnen was far smaller, and was taking the fight on ridiculously short notice.

Indeed, when Jones did fight Sonnen in 2013, he crushed him inside a single round - bringing into further question exactly why he felt he couldn't face him on short notice in the first place.

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#3. Jon Jones stripped of UFC light-heavyweight title after hit-and-run incident

While Jon Jones - outside of a controversial disqualification against Matt Hamill - has never lost during his UFC career, he does hold a less savory promotional record.

'Bones' is the only fighter in UFC history to be stripped of a title on two separate occasions, both under controversial circumstances.

While his positive drug test in 2017 was bad, though, it's arguable that the more frustrating incident came in 2015.

Jones was all set to headline UFC 187 against dangerous contender Anthony Johnson, but a month before the event, disaster struck.

It was announced that 'Bones' had been involved in a hit-and-run incident that saw him run a red light and cause an accident which resulted in a pregnant woman being injured.

Jones was eventually arrested, and while he was handed a sentence of 18 months supervised probation later that year, the UFC were unsurprisingly left with no choice but to strip him of his title and suspend him.

Not only was this incident unsavory in itself, it also meant that fans never got to see Jones fight Johnson, who was seen as a real threat to his title.

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#2. Jon Jones causes UFC 232 to be moved

When Jon Jones defeated Daniel Cormier to regain his UFC light-heavyweight title in the summer of 2017, it looked like he would go onto have another dominant reign as champ.

Unfortunately, he then tested positive for a banned substance, resulting in his suspension and the title returning to Cormier.

By the time 'Bones' returned in 2018, Cormier had relinquished the title, preferring to focus on his reign as heavyweight champion instead.

The UFC therefore set up a fight for the now-vacant title between Jones and old foe Alexander Gustafsson, and booked it to headline UFC 232, which was set for Las Vegas.

Unfortunately, a week before the event, it was announced that the Nevada State Athletic Commission had denied Jones a license after an abnormal drug test result.

According to reports, Jones had tested positive for a trace amount of turanibol - the same substance he'd been busted for using in 2017.

Incredibly, though, rather than remove him, the UFC took an unprecedented decision.

They moved the entire event to Inglewood, California, when the California State Athletic Commission agreed to license Jones. Essentially, it was claimed by USADA that the abnormal test was caused by a "pulsing effect" from the initial use of the substance from 2017.

Quite how true this was remains somewhat of a question mark, but it was easy to see why fans were frustrated, particularly when stories of annoyance from some of the other fighters on the card came to light.

In the end, Jones defeated Gustafsson to regain the title, although it was hard for many not to view the win as being somewhat tainted.

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#1. Delays to the fight between Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall

When Jon Jones defeated Ciryl Gane to claim the vacant UFC heavyweight title at the start of 2023, few fans could've predicted how odd his reign would be.

'Bones' had teased a move up to heavyweight for years prior to this, but after the UFC couldn't put together a fight between him and Francis Ngannou, it felt like a pipe dream.

After he easily submitted Gane, though, fans immediately became excited about the idea of Jones facing the UFC's best big men.

However, that hasn't exactly happened. Jones was first matched with former titleholder Stipe Miocic in a so-called 'legacy fight'.

Even this was frustrating to some people, as Miocic hadn't fought since 2021 and hadn't won since 2020, but as the most accomplished heavyweight in UFC history, it made sense why Jones wanted to fight him so badly.

However, when the fight was postponed in late 2023 thanks to an injury suffered by Jones, the picture changed dramatically.

The UFC booked an interim title fight between Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich, and Aspinall duly won by knockout.

Since then, the UK favorite has been chasing a fight with Jones to absolutely no avail. He's even defended his interim title once, beating Curtis Blaydes, and is now the longest reigning interim champ in UFC history.

Jones, meanwhile, finally beat Miocic last year, and has since teased retirement while seemingly hinting at wanting to fight Ngannou - who is no longer with the promotion - and Alex Pereira, who fights at 205 pounds.

Unsurprisingly, fans have accused Jon Jones of ducking Aspinall, and while he's continually denied this, it is difficult to understand what he's attempting to do right now.

With the fight still not booked and 2025 now past the halfway point, this remains one of the most frustrating issues in the UFC today.