Jon Jones is not announcing a fight, but he is also not closing the UFC door. In a new Ring Magazine interview, Jones said he remains in the UFC drug testing pool and is waiting to see whether the promotion sends him another offer.
Jones has not fought since stopping Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November 2024. He later stepped away from the heavyweight title picture after the long Tom Aspinall situation, then publicly pushed for a UFC White House slot before that plan moved on without him. The result was a messy run of retirement talk, contract questions, and public tension with Dana White.
Jones’ record still sits at 28-1 with one no contest, including 11 knockouts and 7 submissions. He built the longest championship reign in UFC light heavyweight history, then returned from a three-year layoff in 2023 to submit Ciryl Gane for the vacant heavyweight belt.
Watch the clip below:
🚨 Jon Jones says he’s waiting for the UFC to offer him a fight
“The door is open… The UFC are contractually obligated to offer me a few fights a year. When I get offered a fight, that’s gonna be great. We’ll see how I feel.”
(via @ringmagazine) pic.twitter.com/BUA9EvQMus
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) July 17, 2026
Jones Says The Door Is Open
Jones said he is staying available, even while his day-to-day focus has shifted toward coaching Gable Steveson.
When it comes to me actually fighting anyone, I just keep the door open. I’m still in the UFC’s drug testing pool, I get drug tested and blood tested all the time. The door is open.
I’m just allowing time to fly by focusing on somebody else. If I get that call or a tug from higher powers, then I’m going to have to answer that call. But right now, I feel like I’m in the right place, which is serving someone else.
He said Steveson’s UFC run has given him a way to stay close to the fight-week energy without booking his own return.
I’m living vicariously through my buddy Gable Steveson, the UFC heavyweight prospect that I am coaching. I tell everybody that being backstage, being around the fans, seeing that passion, being in the gym training, I get to do it all over again through Gable.
So I’m giving him my absolute best, teaching him everything I know about the sport. A lot of fans are like, ‘Jon, when are you going to come back?’ And those same fans are also saying, ‘Welcome back, coach Jones.’ I’m getting my itch.
I feel like I’m giving the fans their itch, but I’m just doing it with a fighter from a younger generation.
That matches what fans saw at UFC 329, where Jones was around Steveson’s debut week. Steveson knocked out Elisha Ellison at UFC 329, and Jones has repeatedly spoken about guiding him through the early part of his MMA career.
Jones Says UFC Has Not Offered Anything Recently
The clearest part of the interview came when Jones explained why staying in the testing pool still matters.
As long as I’m in the drug testing pool, the UFC is contractually obligated to offer me a few fights a year. I haven’t heard anything from them in a while. But I just take it as it comes, one day at a time.
Right now, my main focus is just being a good dad, a good family man, staying on top of my businesses and endorsements, and making sure Gable is improving. That’s just where life is at right now, you know. When I get offered to fight, that’s going to be great.
And we’ll see how I feel when that time comes. But yeah, things are great.
Jones also said his UFC 329 week around White and other fighters felt normal again.
It was good to see Dana White the other day. We laughed, we took a photo together. Being backstage with all the other UFC fighters is always amazing. The guys are always so respectful to me.
I try to inspire those guys by just being kind and friendly. I feel like I represent a lot in the sport, and I try to be that example. Just because we’re UFC fighters doesn’t mean we have to be hard all the time.
Smile, shake a hand, make a friend, kiss a baby, you know, and so it’s great.
I’m still learning, still teaching. I feel like I’m exactly where I should be in life.
The timing is important because Jones has already been tied to multiple heavyweight possibilities. He recently crossed paths with Alex Pereira after UFC 329, while Dana White previously said Pereira would enter the Jones GOAT conversation with a third UFC belt. None of that is a booked fight.
Jones also softened the White side of the story in the same Ring interview.
In order to do big business, you can’t hold grudges. You have to let bygones be bygones. You have to be able to work with people that you don’t love.
I’ve made Dana millions of dollars over the years, and vice versa. It’s not always about how you feel about a person. It’s just like, can we still work and do business together?
I feel like we’re always going to be able to make money together. Will I be invited to his house on Christmas? Probably not. But the guy changed my life, and he is a homie for life.
And despite how he feels about me, I’m always going to give him that respect.
That leaves Jones in a familiar but more honest place. He is not promising a comeback, and he is not saying he is finished. He is under contract, still being tested, coaching a rising heavyweight, and waiting to see whether the UFC puts a real fight in front of him.
