Video
Original Description
UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier joins ESPN’s Brett Okamoto for immediate reaction to the breaking news that Jon Jones has officially retired from competition. Dana White confirmed the news, adding that Tom Aspinall is now the Heavyweight Champion of the UFC. You do not want to miss what Jon Jones' longtime nemesis has to say about his retirement, the real reason for hanging it up and his legacy.
✔ For more UFC, sign up for ESPN+ http://espnplus.com/ufc/youtube
✔ Get the ESPN App: http://www.espn.com/espn/apps/espn
✔ Subscribe to ESPN on YouTube: http://es.pn/SUBSCRIBEtoYOUTUBE
✔ Subscribe to ESPN FC on YouTube: http://bit.ly/SUBSCRIBEtoESPNFC
✔ Subscribe to NBA on ESPN on YouTube: http://bit.ly/SUBSCRIBEtoNBAonESPN
✔ Watch ESPN on YouTube TV: http://es.pn/YouTubeTV
#ESPN #MMA #UFC
Video Transcript
what's up everybody breaking news so you
came to the right place espn MMA YouTube
channel myself we got DC on the line to
talk to his best friend his former rival
Jon Jones officially retiring from the
sport of mixed martial arts uh we knew
DC that this had been part of the
conversation we were hoping it wasn't
going to be the conversation just yet i
mean I selfishly was hoping for a fight
between he and Tom Aspenol i don't think
I'm the only one in fact I know the
whole world was kind of hoping for that
in the end he is not fighting Tom
Aspenol is retiring from the sport of
mixed martial arts announced by Dana
White on Saturday your initial thoughts
to the announcement that Jon Jones is
officially retired from mixed martial
arts so my first thought it was like he
actually did it he actually did it you
know like I didn't think that he would
walk away uh I didn't know that you know
he would allow for or would be able to
handle
um what comes with making this decision
right now and the optics of it brett do
you understand what I'm saying what it
looks like to people i didn't know that
his ego would be able to handle walking
away i figured he would fight based on
that but um he didn't and uh it it's
it's crazy i said something the other
day Brett and I don't want this to be
like me crapping on Jon Jones but I said
something on my YouTube channel i said
"If Jon Jones doesn't fight this guy he
quit." Right he quit i said that and uh
he did you know he's he's he's out of
the game it's crazy it's interesting to
me that like uh you you say that maybe
his ego wouldn't have allowed it because
of the optics dude he created the optics
by just not retiring at Madison Square
Garden had he retired it would have been
like he would have gotten a little bit
of flack for it but like not much I
don't think because it would have been
like "Hey man this guy's just done
fighting you know he's done a lot he's
he's in his late 30s now he's just
finished." But by dragging it out he
himself was the one that created the
optics like when you kind of try and
look at this and try to get behind of
what happened behind the scenes what
happened here what what was John hoping
for was this just something that he
fumbled right from the beginning what
was the OC hoping for like like where
where did this go wrong because it just
seems like if we were going to end up
here with Jon Jones being retired why
didn't we do it in November of last year
yes yes that that's a great question so
Brett I think his intent was to fight i
think his intent was to fight when did
Tom Aspon knock out Curtis Blades was
that in the beginning of this year
it was in like February right or January
uh I'm not exactly sure google it but I
think it was last year actually you keep
talking i'll find out was it before if
it was before he fought in November
against Stipe um I believe that when he
beat Stipe his intention was to continue
i just don't know that when he started
to train it's like I I don't really want
to do this no more and I know what it's
going to take to beat this guy you got
it for me
july of last year so it had been a long
time since Tom so he he he was before
Stipe so Aspenol is just kind of waiting
remember that appearance he had aspenol
went there this guy was so excited to
fight him and I don't know that he could
find that love to get up to do what he
knows he would need to do in order to
get past this guy there's a time at
times where you just kind of know you're
done and uh it feels like that's where
Jones is
i know that I'm kind of putting you on
the spot here and I know that you know
your response on this is going to be
looked at as biased but did Jon Jones
walk away did Jon Jones retire because
he thought that he was going to lose to
Tom Aspenol
so
here's the thing I've said constantly i
don't think that Jon Jones is afraid of
anyone i I really don't believe that but
what he has done is he has allowed for
the conversation to happen you asking
that question Brett is not unfair
anymore because of the way that he did
this the all the hiccups all the
missteps
the constant presence in social media
the constant presence calling people out
i would have beaten Daniel Cormier at
heavyweight you I'm five years retired i
want to fight Francis alex Pereira is
very interesting to me so you know Brett
like if Alex Pereira is very interesting
as a fight and then he loses and that
fight's now off the table it just opens
the conversation to where if most
believe that if Stipe was standing
across there he'd probably do it
yeah I I think that uh John really shot
himself on the foot on this one because
I do think that um you know I don't
think that this necessarily goes into
like his overall legacy now like let's
not get crazy the guy is greatest of all
time he is okay i disagree i disagree
but but it it adds a line it adds a line
it doesn't change his legacy it adds a
line to it it adds a line to it that
like hey he was the greatest fighter of
all time but you know I remember he
didn't want anything to do with Tom As i
disagree yes no i disagree i disagree i
disagree because I think that when we do
it Brett as fighters and I'm talking
from WWE to boxing to mixed martial arts
there is a ladder an invisible ladder
right that you drop down and you say
"Here's your chance to climb it this is
your opportunity to climb it." You got
to let that ladder down as the man yeah
do we though you don't like who hasn't
who hasn't who hasn't tell me one george
you know I'm looking I'm I look at the
end of John's career a lot like I I
looked at Floyd Mayweather floyd
Mayweather wanted to fight everybody
under his circumstances under his time
frame and it didn't make for the most
exciting fights honestly but it it made
him go undefeated it made him get paid a
lot so I'm almost kind of giving like I
hear what you're saying and as a fan I
want to see him drop that ladder but I
he doesn't want anybody to drop the
ladder but he doesn't owe it but that's
the game though right you made your you
made your money you made your living you
made your legacy in that organization
you owe it to the organization you owe
it ow to Tom Aspenol drop that ladder
here's your chance and even if it came
with a caveat I'm going to fight this
kid but don't think for a second that
you're going to get another one out of
me because I know that I'm pretty much
done because guess what he would have
been the favorite to win the fight and
as a guy that's competed against him I
almost expected him to win the fight
he's 37 i was the heavyweight champ and
the light heavyweight champ at 39 jon
Jones is amazing in the octagon
all right well one more question about
John and we'll get to a little bit of
spin forward with Tom uh do do you think
this is his you ever think he fights
again cuz I do i think he fights again
what do you think i do and I think
that's going to be another misstep
that's another misstep you You know
this puts the UFC in a very very
interesting situation because
Tom Aspenol can go fight somebody else
and imagine if he loses to Sirro Gan
then what then what cuz Sirro Gan's good
he's the man john wiped him out how are
you Jon Jones at 38 years old watching
Sir Ghana as the heavyweight champ going
"This took me a minute and 20 seconds
last time i can go do it again and not
have to deal with the unknown then that
would just hurt more." So for me in
terms of legacy preservation I hope this
is it because if anybody else gets that
belt and he tries to come back it's
going to be a bad look but does he
really care Brett does he really care
what the look i mean I thought his his
ego wouldn't let him quit before he
fought this kid because he cared but by
walking away it shows me he really
doesn't care all that much what people
think
yeah i mean I I I I say that he'll come
back and fight just because he doesn't
strike me as a guy who's done he's he he
seems like he's still got something in
the tank he uh he likes money you know
he's still really good he's still great
man he's the best heavyweight in the
world Brett i just don't think Yeah he
doesn't want Tom Aspenol so then I guess
uh that that then connects us to this
other part is that Tom's going to move
on and if Tom were to potentially lose
to somebody that that Jon would prefer
to fight then we could maybe see him
fight again but who is that person do
you think it's Surreal Gone you think
Tom Aspenol is fighting Surreal Gone
that's what's getting announced this
week International Fight Week i think
you have two options you have two
options
you have Surreal Gone and you have Jay
and Almeida
i know that um uh the tall kid uh 6'11
67 Alexander Volkov has done well too
but Tom beat him already i think you
have Sirill or you have Jolton and I
believe that in those fights hey Tom
Aspenol may bring some stability to this
division he was pissed the other day
when he came on Good Guy Bad Guy he
wants to fight so I could see a world in
which this dude fights in like July uh
August because he's so ready to get back
to work do you think uh we'll ever see
him fight Alex Beetta because to me DC
that's the one we're disappointed that
we're not getting Jon and Tom surreal is
like it's a good fight but it's like it
just still feels like such a let down
from Jon and Tom so I have seen other
suggests and I've suggested it myself
like like let's just move Alexa up right
now i mean do you think that there's
even a possibility again I never thought
about it but there you go you're smart
you've been around this thing long
enough to know now you want to take Sean
Shel's job and and Mick Maynard i know
you at first you were just a pretty face
but now you know dude that would be
awesome i saw like Ferrari 243 the other
day on a scale on an Instagram post
i would do it i would do it that's
that's the that's the excitement one
right there and you think if Alex bea
goes in and knocks out Tom Aspenol that
we're not going to see Jon Jones back in
the octagon within six months fighting
Alex Beetta he said Alex Pereira excites
him that's the fight that excites him he
said he wants things that excite him tom
Aspenol doesn't excite him that's what
he said
you know one one more thing to close it
all out and that is that John
uh you know your guys' differences aside
he has meant something to this sport for
a very long time what kind of a loss is
it to the sport if if John never
competes again it's big we're talking
about a kid that started this thing at
like 19 20 years old he has spanned
three different eras of heavy of
heavyweights and light heavyweights he
did the Vtor Belelfforts and the Shogun
Hooas and the Rampage Jacksons and then
he moved on to the Rashad Evans and
myself and Alexander Gustin into Santos
Reyes
uh um Anthony Smith all the way back to
Stipe nobody gets that amount of time at
the top without the crowd catching you
because when you're the best everyone's
training to beat you jon Jones somehow
managed to not only stay relevant but
also win every time he stepped foot in
that octagon everything else aside all
the stuff outside of the octagon he won
every time he was put in a fight with a
man oneon-one and he beat me in Anaheim
Brett and I can tell you this without
question i beat Stipe Miocic i became
the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion UFC
light heavyweight champion i was never
better than that time in Anaheim that
was the best I've ever been and he beat
me and because of that I I will always
respect him for his skills and and what
he did inside the octagon between those
eight in that eight-sided fence there
was no one like him yep yep as a fan man
I'm going to definitely as a fan of the
sport I'm definitely going to miss him
and I was hoping we were going to get
one more out of him and maybe we still
will but not against Tom Aspenol and not
this year it doesn't look like um and I
hope that maybe he shows up
International Fight Week and gives us a
little bit of a press conference man I
was thinking that this was a weird way
to announce the the retirement of Jon
Jones just Dana kind of saying it in a
at a press conference over in uh
Yeah it seemed like an odd way for this
news to come out um you know when Chuck
Liddell retired I don't know if you you
remember this but it was like hotel
lobby MGM up at the deis he's crying
he's got the tears and like media are
asking him questions i hope
I hope that John wants to do that and
that the UFC gives him an opportunity to
do that because that that feels right so
I guess we'll see when we hear from him
again if and when we hear from him again
but that's a wrap on the breaking news
thank you so much for joining us thank
you for DC jumping on here taking the
time and stay tuned because this story I
don't feel like it's completely over
maybe maybe it is but retirements in MMA
you never know with Jon Jones you never
know so keep it here we'll be talking
about it again if if and when the time
comes yeah and on Good Guy Bad Guy
Monday Chill's back i cannot wait to get
his opinion on this it's gonna be a fun
episode chill and I gonna both be just
spewing hate at Jon Jones for fight for
now fighting Tom Aspenol but hey Brett
like you said if it's over it's a sad
day in MMA but make sure you guys don't
miss Good Guy Bad Guy for Chill and I
talking about the retirement of Jon
Jones from mixed martial arts
[Applause]
[Music]