Chael Sonnen drops heat on Jon Jones amid heavyweight title delay speculation

Chael Sonnen believes UFC heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones is not yet financially prepared to leave the UFC and retire. Jones vs. Tom Aspinall has been in the talks since the end of 2024, however, the title unification bout has not been booked yet.

Aspinall is ready to fight 'Bones'; however, as per the Brit, the delay in finalising the bout is from Jones' side. Aspinall has expressed frustration about the same. Meanwhile, Jones has dismissed fan accusations of ducking Aspinall but has not given news on when he plans to take on the 32-year-old.

UFC CEO Dana White, on the other hand, most recently reaffirmed that Jones vs. Aspinall will happen.

In a recent clip, Sonnen said that Jones is not financially set to retire as he has not made "walk-away money." The UFC Hall of Famer also thinks there is not enough evidence that 'Bones' is ducking Aspinall.

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Sonnen said:

"Jon Jones is holding this fight up is refusing to fight Tom Aspinall. Now that may well be the truth, I’m just here to bring to you guys. We don’t have that evidence. Jon Jones will be offered a fight with Tom, or he cannot fight at all, and when you are a prize fighter, electing to not fight does not make you good at negotiating, it makes you employed."

He added:

"And Jon Jones has done great, but Jon Jones has not made walk-away money. This whole idea that Jon Jones is holding this up or… not going to fight Tom. At this point, you don’t have that evidence, and it’s nothing more right now than speculation."

Check out Chael Sonnen's comments below:

Chael Sonnen thinks Islam Makhachev dodged Ilia Topuria

Islam Makhachev has decided to move up to welterweight and vacate his 155-pound throne. Hence, a superfight between Makhachev and Ilia Topuria is not in the cards anytime soon.

Makhachev moving to 170-pounds and leaving his status as the UFC lightweight kingpin, makes Chael Sonnen think that the Dagestani did everything possible to not have to fight Topuria. In a recent Instagram video, Sonnen quipped:

"Islam did everything you could conceivably do to not fight Ilia, including leave the division, including leave the championship."

Check out Chael Sonnen's comments below:

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