Legendary ex-MMA referee predicts grim future for Jon Jones amid UFC retirement: "That money will go fast"

Former UFC referee shared his thoughts on Jon Jones abruptly announcing his retirement a few days ago. This happened in the midst of the tumultuous negotiations of his fight against Tom Aspinall, which lasted for months.

Fans were accusing 'Bones' of ducking Aspinall, dragging the negotiations for months only to retire in the end. To some pundits, this move pretty much scarred the otherwise legendary career of Jon Jones.

To fellow legend 'Big' John McCarthy, the true battle for Jones now is how to manage a life outside of fighting. McCarthy said in an episode of WEIGHING IN on YouTube:

"I'm just being honest, you know. I don't care because at this point in his [Jones'] career, with what he was doing, like with [Tom] Aspinall and stuff, and I and again I'm going to say right now: he is not afraid of Tom Aspinall... [But] he's tired. He's tired of the sport. He's tired of, you know, the commitment to the gym."

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He added:

"He wants to be free and do things all the time, the way he wants, which scares me. For who he is as a person and his personality and what he does, because I think he's going to get in trouble. And I hope he doesn't. I hope he has a great, you know, rest of his life. He's got a lot of money but that money will go fast and people will take it. So he needs to be careful."

Check out John McCarthy's comments below (8:23):

Jon Jones responds to harsh criticism of his UFC retirement

In typical Jon Jones fashion, the MMA great didn't let the criticisms slide as he swiftly made a response on social media. To 'Bones', the decision to leave the sport is solely his - not anyone else's.

While he owes the fans his legendary rise to mainstream consciousness, Jones understands that it's ultimately his skills and hardwork that brought him to where he is.

Because of this, he reserves the right to leave in his own terms. Jones wrote:

"I guess everybody else gets to retire - just not when you’re still dominating. Funny how that works. Forget personal goals, forget business ventures. Some folks really believe you should fight until they say you’ve had enough. Wild. Imagine thinking a grown man shouldn’t control his own destiny."

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Duane is an expert MMA writer at Sportskeeda with over 10 years of experience working for the likes of Philippine Star, Esquire Philippines, Playboy Philippines, etc. A major in English, he has written over 2000 articles for Sportskeeda section, extensively covering UFC and boxing fights.

Duane is a practicing MMA fighter with a 11-7 record. He is also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt and trains Muay Thai. His connection with MMA dates back to 2005, when he turned into a fan after watching Fedor Emelianenko defeat Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic at Pride FC - Final Conflict 2005.

Emelianenko finds himself right at the top of Duane’s Mt. Rushmore of MMA fighters, alongside other big names like Demetrious Johnson, Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, and Anderson Silva.

Duane’s love for the sport is reflected in his writings, where he believes in speculating but not insinuating. He uses his intensive knowledge and skills in MMA to provide unique insights to the readers, along with sourcing information only from reliable sources.

Outside of work, Duane enjoys martial arts training, visual arts, film criticism, video games, and creative writing.

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Edited by Tejas Rathi