"Don't project the way you live on me" - Jon Jones schools fan asking him to "vacate the belt"
Jon Jones is the reigning UFC heavyweight champion but some fans are wondering when he might defend the belt after being on the sidelines for a while now. The first defense of his heavyweight crown was supposed to take place last November but a pectoral injury to Jones scuttled those plans. Stipe Miocic was set to fight him at UFC 295, but that fight was obviously scrapped.
'Bones' still seems to want that fight against the UFC heavyweight, although a strong contingent of fans want to see a fight between Jones and interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.
In a recent social media interaction with one of the all-time great mixed martial artists, @T_canFrost posted:
"Vacate the belt please"
@JonnyBones retweeted this post and retorted:
"I would imagine you're a person that probably vacated most of their dreams after graduating high school. Don't project the way you live on me. When I set my mind to achieve something, I usually get it done, sorry that doesn't align with your schedule."
Check out the X interaction featuring Jon Jones below:
Jon Jones and his track record of vacating titles
The 36-year-old has not relinquished the heavyweight hardware after capturing it over a year ago when he submitted Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in March 2023. That being said, the prolific fighter has had to give up championships on multiple occasions previously.
Jones was a multi-time UFC light heavyweight champion but never lost his belt inside of the confines of the cage.
The native of New York state first had to give up gold when he was involved in a hit-and-run incident involving a pregnant woman. This scrapped a UFC 187 title defense against the late Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson, and Jones was suspended indefinitely in Q2 of 2015.
Jon Jones returned in April 2016 to capture the interim title against Ovince St. Preux before becoming lineal champion once again by stopping Daniel Cormier with strikes at UFC 214 in July 2017. This was a brief return to the throne as Jones failed a drug test that overturned the Cormier bout to a no-contest and saw the title belt go back to 'DC.'
'Bones' regained the light heavyweight belt versus Alexander Gustafsson in their rematch at UFC 232. After subsequent defenses over Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos, and Dominick Reyes, Jones would again vacate the 205-pound belt to pursue preparations to bulk up for a move to heavyweight.