The pound-for-pound rankings have been shaken up following Jon Jones’ shock retirement from the UFC.
Following the UFC’s first ever event in Azerbaijan this past weekend, Dana White officially announced that Jon Jones has retired from the sport after several months of delaying a comeback.
Although Jones’ retirement should have been a huge celebration for what has been an incredible career, his retirement post on social media was hijacked by fans who continued to mock him for ducking Tom Aspinall.
Despite the heartfelt tributes pouring in for Jones, not everyone is pleased for him in his retirement, and even Demetrious Johnson revealed his confusion.
Khamzat Chimaev enters the pound-for-pound rankings following Jones’ retirement
This Tuesday, the UFC rankings updated and for the first time in a while, they didn’t include Jones, who has been near the top of the pound-for-pound rankings for the majority of his career.
Prior to his retirement, ‘Bones’ occupied rank three in the pound-for-pound rankings, despite Dana White continuously campaigning that he was undoubtedly pound-for-pound number one.
Benefitting from Jones’ retirement is upcoming middleweight title challenger Khamzat Chimaev who now debuts in the rankings at rank 15.
Chimaev is set to compete for the 185lb title against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319 on August 16 in what has seemingly been a long time coming.
The aforementioned Du Plessis also moved up one spot into number four and the undisputed heavyweight champion, Aspinall, was given a huge bump up the rankings, moving up three spots into number eight.
Replacing Jones in rank three is former UFC featherweight champion, Ilia Topuria. ‘El Matador’ takes on Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title this coming Saturday at UFC 317.
Jon Jones announces big career move following UFC retirement
Just a few days removed from Jones’ official retirement from the UFC, he announced a big career move on his social media.
Stating that he wants to make a ‘true legacy’, Jones has partnered with Ketone-IQ, looking to add to his fame outside of the cage.
It is unclear as of now whether the 37-year-old will eventually return to combat sports action as he is the co-owner of Dirty Boxing Championship, which is a growing promotion in the sport.
