Jones

UFC president Dana White says he cannot stop Jon Jones from retiring, despite the American having “agreed” to fight Tom Aspinall.

White was responding to the social media activity of the UFC heavyweight champion, who suggested he was retired before calling out ex-UFC fighter Francis Ngannou.

Speaking at the UFC 316 post-fight news conference, White said 37-year-old Jones had said nothing about retiring to him and that he was only interested in matching him with Aspinall.

“Tom Aspinall is the guy. If the guy wants to retire and doesn’t want to fight, there’s nothing you can do,” White said.

“I didn’t want Khabib [Nurmagomedov] to retire, I thought [Daniel Cormier] should’ve stayed in it longer, so it’s none of my business.

“I’ll do what I can to make the fight, if we can, if he’s talking that crazy, I didn’t realise that.”

With Ngannou fuelling speculation he might be open to a return to the UFC, White played down the chances even if it was to fight Jones.

“It’s Aspinall’s fight,” White said.

“Today” show host Sheinelle Jones’ husband, Uche Ojeh, has died of brain cancer at age 45. The two were married for 17 years.

Co-host Savannah Guthrie, surrounded by her colleagues, announced the news “with profound sadness” Friday morning during the show. Ojeh fought “a courageous battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer called glioblastoma,” she said.

“There are no words for the pain we feel for Sheinelle and their three young children,” she continued. “Uche was an incredible person. We all loved him.”

Jones posted a photo of her husband on Friday along with video from that broadcast. Her simple caption offered thanks to all who had supported them during Ojeh’s illness.

“Uche was an extraordinary person. Full of light and heart and faith,” Guthrie wrote in comments. “Sheinelle, my dearest, we love you and the kids with all of our hearts. I marvel at your strength. You are surrounded by love now and forever.”

“Love you Sheinelle…we wrap our arms around you now and forever!,” co-host Jenna Hager wrote. Talk-show and former “Today” host Tamron Hall and former “Today” co-host Hoda Kotb offered their condolences.

Meteorologist and third-hour “Today” co-host Dylan Dreyer joined in, writing, “Hoping you can find peace in the love and prayers that surround you and your incredible children. I’m so lucky to have known Uche and his spirit lives on in your family.”

Glioblastoma is the most aggressive form of brain and spinal cord cancer, the Glioblastoma Foundation says, with a current standard of care that doesn’t help much. The average survival time for people who get treatment is 15 months after diagnosis, according to the foundation, compared with three to six months for those who do not. While research on new treatments has been promising, according to the Mayo Clinic, the condition has no cure.

The Mayo Clinic says the disease is most often diagnosed when people are in their mid-60s. Singer Michael Bolton, 72, announced last month that he has been diagnosed with glioblastoma after initially suffering nausea and balance issues in 2023. His diagnosis and emergency brain surgery came in January 2024.

Jones, who anchors the third hour of “Today” with Dreyer, Craig Melvin and Al Roker, has been absent from the show since mid-December, managing what she called “a family health matter.”

At the time, the 11-year NBC News veteran did not disclose details but acknowledged her support system within and beyond the “Today” studio, saying that it “means so much to me.” People reported in January that the situation was “serious” but didn’t involve Jones or her three children with Ojeh: son Kayin, 15, and twins Clara and Uche, 14.

Ojeh married Jones in September 2007 after meeting during the 1990s on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., when she was walking to class and he was a high school senior visiting campus. She decided to act like a “fake tour guide,” she told her alma mater’s magazine in 2024.

“I told him I would take him around,” Jones said, “because he was cute.”