Jon Jones has made the decision to officially give up his UFC light heavyweight title.
UFC president Dana White said this past week that the company had been in communication with Jones (25-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC) about his plans for the 205-pound belt after mounting frustration between the two sides in recent months.
Apparently a productive conversation took place Monday, and afterward, Jones announced that he reached the conclusion to vacate the title.
“Just got off the phone with @ufc, today I confirm that I’m vacating the light heavyweight championship,” Jones wrote on Twitter. “It’s officially up for grabs. It’s been an amazing journey, sincere thank you to all my competition, UFC and most importantly you fans.”
Jones most recently competed at UFC 247 in February when he earned a somewhat controversial decision win over Dominick Reyes. There was talk of a rematch, but then Jones sparked up conversation about a move to heavyweight to fight Francis Ngannou.
That’s what led to the tension between Jones and the UFC brass. He believed he deserved more money to move up a weight class, but White said he wasn’t budging on the issue. Jones would later say he’d step back from fighting unless progress was made.
Following Stipe Miocic’s heavyweight title defense against Daniel Cormier on Saturday, Jones again expressed interest in a move up, this time to challenge the champ.
Heavyweight appears to be Jones’ plan for The future if he can get on the same page as the UFC. As of now, though, that doesn’t appear to be the case.
“The last I spoke with @UFC about my salary there was no negotiating,” Jones wrote. “If that ever changes, I’d love to come back and compete again as a heavyweight. Until then, I’ll be enjoying UFC has a fan and doing my best to take care of my family and community.”
Jones, 33, is No. 1 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie light heavyweight rankings. His 14 wins in UFC title fights are most in company history.
