Fans have expressed their opinion about the current status of Jon Jones as the heavyweight champion.
After winning the empty title at UFC 285 in March 2023, where he submitted Ciryl Gane, 'Bones' defended the belt only once.
With many fans who take the side of Tom Aspinall to want the interim champion to continue with the next phase of his career, a petition to strip Jones has been given a lot of interest.
However, there are still a number of supporters who are firmly behind the consensus.
The social media messages of Dana White can suggest that many people are frustrated, but a counterpoint has now been launched to try to retain the heavyweight division as it is.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty images
Fans are launching the counterpeting for Jon Jones to remain the UFC heavyweight champion
The petition of change.org to strip Jon Jones from the heavyweight title, started by 'Tony_has_died', has now made more than 158,000 signatures.
Jones has previously stated that he has already explained his intentions to the UFC and that he was surprised that the promotion did not make this audience.
The petition clearly states that with the current champion “clear” it is not going not to fight soon, the division must continue.
Tom Aspinall helped to draw even more attention to the cause by sharing a link to the petition on his Instagram story.
Tom Aspinall has shared the viral petition to strip Jon Jones from the heavyweight title with his Instagram
The petition now has more than 150k signatures 😳 pic.twitter.com/onjju3akzm
– Championship Rounds (@champrds) 30 May 2025
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A counter -petition was launched a few days ago to protest with this and described the collection of fans to try to deduct the heavyweight title holder as “Lame”.
After being placed on May 28, 103 verified signatures were collected at the time of writing with various fans who write comments under the mail.
'If we strip it from the belt, we will not get the Jones vs Aspinall fight. I would say, give it until August. If there is no announcement by August, the strip the belt. '
'The PFP number 1 Greatest Fighter will never be stripped. These guys are stupid -. '
'There is no evidence that Jon is offered a date/location and says no. Stripping him when he has done nothing wrong, makes no sense. '
Another remark was less passionate about their decision to support this case, write: 'This was a mistake, I cannot sign. This is the worst that I have ever associated with. STAFF.'
I started a petition for Jon Jones to keep his belt.
Enough with these casual fans who call on Jon Jones to be stripped of his belt.
Draw this petition to show support for MMA's goat. pic.twitter.com/syxywnpucl
– UFC King (@ufcfriedchicken) 28 May 2025
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Why Jon Jones may not be the fault of the heavyweight division
Fans have become more and more frustrated by Jon Jones and his somewhat unclear comments about retirement have not helped things.
That saying, if 'bones' told the truth when he said he already told the UFC what his plans were and that the promotion did not make this audience, the holdup may not be his fault.
Fans were critical of Dana White after the retirement of Khabib Nurmagomedov, where it took some time before the promotion allowed and claimed that the lightweight title was empty after he tried to seduce 'the Eagle' back to the Octagon.
Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty images
There is still so much speculation around this Saga, but there is certainly a world in which Jones is not the fault of it, even if he clearly enjoys his time that the fans provokes.