Sonnen Predicted Jones Would Retire in 2025
In ESPN MMA’s “Good Guy / Bad Guy” episode of bold 2025 predictions, Chael Sonnen predicted that Jon Jones would retire before the year ended. The official video archive identifies the episode and its 2025 predictions.
The Prediction Came True
On June 21, 2025, Dana White announced at a post-event press conference that Jones had retired. The promotion then recognized interim champion Tom Aspinall as undisputed heavyweight champion, according to the official announcement.
The announcement gave the year-end prediction a definite outcome by the middle of 2025. It also changed the championship picture: Aspinall’s status shifted from interim titleholder to undisputed champion, rather than the two heavyweight belts being unified in a fight.
Why the prediction mattered
Jones had defended the heavyweight championship against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November 2024. Aspinall, meanwhile, had held the interim belt since his November 2023 knockout of Sergei Pavlovich. The UFC’s review of the 2025 title picture explains how Jones’s retirement ended the prospect of that unification matchup during the year.
Sonnen’s forecast was therefore about more than whether one athlete would continue competing. It concerned the future of a division with an undisputed champion and an interim champion awaiting resolution. The June announcement supplied that resolution through a change in title recognition.
The video remains a record of Sonnen and Daniel Cormier discussing possibilities before those developments unfolded. Its predictions should be read in that historical setting. The retirement announcement confirms what happened in June 2025 without establishing that every other forecast in the episode would also occur.
