Following Shakur Stevenson release, Jake Paul asks UFC to let Jon Jones go

After Shakur Stevenson asked for and received his release from Zuffa Boxing, Jake Paul wants to know whether that sort of request from Jon Jones would be honored.

Jones may be the GOAT of MMA, but he didn’t have enough leverage to get one last superfight out of the UFC. He pushed for a fight with Alex Pereira, and he pushed for a fight at the White House. Both requests were denied, and now “Bones” remains in career limbo, effectively retired by his promotion.

Now Jake Paul is asking that Jones be released like Stevenson was released so he can fight for Paul’s promotion, MVP MMA.

“Can Jon Jones request a release like Shakur Stevenson so we can go ahead and do this Francis Ngannou vs Jon Jones fight?” Jake Paul wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “They already said they are never working with Francis. So let Jon fly and we can give the fans what they want. Please and thank you.”

Jones retweeted Paul’s request so you know where he stands, but Ngannou added his own note to Paul’s message tamping down people’s expectations.

“Freedom isn’t free,” Ngannou wrote. “It’s not given, but it’s taken.”

The message: don’t expect the UFC to let Jones walk, even if they never get him back into the cage. Ngannou had to spend years getting jerked around by the promotion before a sunset clause in his contract allowed him to leave after five years. Dana White still acts like Franny is an evil monster because of it.

If Jones wants out of his UFC contract, it’ll take a lot more than a tweet from Jake Paul to get him out. We’d argue the Paul tweet only makes the UFC want to hold onto him more. Get a lawyer, and get ready to wait two years. Then maybe a grey-bearded Jones could either force his release or one more fight from UFC. Maybe.