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Stephen A. Smith recently shared his thoughts on Jon Jones' retirement from MMA and claimed that the former two-division champion walked away. He noted that he has a lot of respect for Jones, but believes his retirement is disappointing.
UFC CEO Dana White officially announced that Jones had informed him of his intent to retire, which resulted in his long-awaited title unification bout against Tom Aspinall falling through. White also confirmed that Aspinall would be promoted to heavyweight champion and would meet with the UFC brass to discuss what's next.
Championship Rounds posted a clip from the latest episode of ESPN's 'First Take', which shows Smith expressing his disappointment in Jones for retiring rather than fighting Aspinall. The ESPN host mentioned that 'Bones' will now have a burning question associated with his career as he walked away from a title unification bout against the Brit. He said:
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"I'm not going to accuse the greatest mixed martial artist I have ever seen in my life... Having said that, I'm incredibly disappointed with this news... Now with your retirement, Aspinall is the undisputed heavyweight champion."
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Smith continued:
My point is if you are a fighter... and that's the fight people want to see, give us the fight we want to see... [Fans], who recognize your greatness and want to see you against this guy who's been calling you out for the longest time. Handle it, then retire if you want to."
Check out Championship Rounds' post featuring Stephen A. Smith's comments regarding Jon Jones below:
Stephen A. Smith says Jon Jones should have considered UFC fans in his decision to retire
Stephen A. Smith also said that Jon Jones should have considered the UFC fans when making his decision to retire. In the aforementioned clip, Smith voiced his displeasure with Jones' decision. He said:
"Don't retire because guess what, there's not really a fight out there that you're interested in, [Aspinall] irritates you, so the hell with it, 'I'm not gonna give him the privilege of fighting me'. It ain't about that. That audience out there that loves you, who recognizes your unquestionable greatness, we want to see you handle this guy."
Check out Jon Jones' post announcing his retirement below:
