It has been a year since UFC CEO Dana White announced the retirement of Jon Jones at a post-event news conference in Baku, Azerbaijan on June 21, 2025, a move that the report says effectively flattened the heavyweight division. Jones was the reigning heavyweight champion and is described in the report as the greatest fighter in the company’s history.
Tom Aspinall, then the interim champion, was elevated to undisputed champion but the report says he inherited a thin and uninspiring set of challengers and missed out on the superfight with Jones that fans had anticipated. White acknowledged his own frustration and the announcement was widely seen as reflective of the division’s low morale.
The account tracks several key moments in the 12 months that followed. Less than a month after the Baku announcement, Jones publicly reversed course on the ESPYS red carpet and said, “I’m back,” citing plans for a UFC event at the White House — a move the report characterizes as demoralizing for observers and rates as a significant setback for the division’s spirits.
There were brief upticks. The report notes that Aspinall’s first title defense against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 ended in a no-contest on Oct. 25, 2025, after eye pokes, but Gane’s performance as a significant underdog provided hope. That optimism was short-lived: four months later Aspinall revealed ongoing double vision and restricted eye movement and underwent surgery, delaying a rematch and casting doubt on his fighting future.
Most recently, the report records that an interim-title fight between Alex Pereira and Gane was announced for a White House card, and the UFC returned to Baku for a Fight Night with Gane holding the interim belt and Aspinall still the undisputed champion who may never fight again. The overall assessment in the account is that the heavyweight landscape has seen both encouraging moments and setbacks over the past year.
