Pics: Jon Jones looks old and gray in training leading up to UFC 309

Jon Jones is looking more than his age in new photos posted to his Instagram 45 days out from his UFC title fight against Stipe Miocic.

The 37 year old was looking fat and happy during his injury-induced one year vacation from the sport. Now he’s looking lean and mean … and more than a little elderly as he puts the final touches on his UFC 309 fight camp. The heavyweight champ has big grey patches in his beard as he flexes in the mirror while Frank Sinatra’s ‘New York, New York’ plays in the background.

Jones vs. Miocic at Madison Square Garden was supposed to go down at UFC 295 in November 2023 but “Bones” suffered a torn pectoral, delaying the whole affair until the next annual trip to MSG. That’s caused a lot of anger amongst fans of interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, who has had time to win and defend his belt while waiting for Jon and Stipe to fight.

To add onto the cluster at heavyweight, neither Jones nor Miocic may continue to fight after UFC 309. Sources tell MMA Mania that this will be Stipe’s last fight win or lose. And Jon Jones has been teasing his imminent retirement since coming back to defeat Ciryl Gane for the heavyweight belt back in March 2023. At UFC 306 in September, he told several people including Alex Pereira that UFC 309 would likely be his last ride.

It’s not hard to imagine why. “Bones” has been competing professionally since 2008 and has gone through multiple generations of contenders. To stick around and risk messing up his near-perfect 27-1-1 record and status as a top GOAT contender seems silly. To everyone but Aspinall fans, that is.

But as Jones’ latest training picture implies, the man has been doing this for a long time.