Jon Jones officially vacates his UFC light heavyweight title

After months of contract disputes and failed negotiations, it is finally official: Jon Jones is no longer the UFC light heavyweight champion.

Jones and the UFC reportedly spoke to each other on Monday, after which Jones announced his decision to vacate his championship. He posted the following to his Twitter account:

Jones’ most recent title defence was a rather controversial decision over Dominick Reyes. Most, both in the MMA media and among fans, believed that Reyes won. However, instead of entertaining a rematch, Jones has hinted at super fights; namely, a heavyweight bout against Cameroonian knockout artist Francis Ngannou.

This is where Jones’ dispute with the UFC became more pronounced, as the long-reigning champion felt he deserve an up in pay to go up in weight.

It appears that whatever differences the two parties had has been resolved, as Jones is suggesting that the time for him to move up to heavyweight has finally arrived:

It is unclear which opponent the UFC and Jones have in mind, but the two likeliest scenarios are against heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, or the aforementioned Francis Ngannou.