'Best ever' Jones did not 'duck' Aspinall - Topuria

Former UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones did not retire to avoid fighting Tom Aspinall, says Ilia Topuria.

Britain's Aspinall was upgraded from interim to undisputed heavyweight champion this week after Jones, 37, announced his exit from the sport.

Jones' retirement followed seven months of the American not committing to fighting 32-year-old Aspinall in a unification bout.

Spain's Topuria, who faces Brazilian Charles Oliveira for the lightweight title at UFC 317 in Las Vegas on Saturday, says Jones did not "duck" a fight with Aspinall.

"No, no, no, no, no. Jones fought the best of all time. In the last 10 years he fought the best fighters in the world. He's not ducking anyone," Topuria told BBC Sport.

"I think that he could retire whenever he wants. He has done amazing things in the sport. He's let's say, the best to ever do it. So I think he took a good decision. He's the GOAT [greatest of all time]."

Jones is a former light-heavyweight champion and widely considered one of, if not the best, MMA fighters of all time.

He has an overall record of 28 wins, one loss and one no-contest, and holds the record for most title-fight wins in the UFC with 16.

But his achievements in the octagon have sometimes been overshadowed by his chequered past outside it.

Just hours after confirming his retirement this week, it emerged the Albuquerque Police had charged Jones, external with leaving the scene of an accident that happened in February.

The report says a woman involved in the car accident claims Jones was driving her vehicle during the crash, before fleeing the scene on foot.

Jones' attorney Christopher Dodd later released a statement saying he was "stunned" by the charge and denied the American was involved.

"Jon was not driving that night, he wasn't in the car. It appears that an intoxicated woman used a false allegation against Jon to avoid being arrested for DWI [drinking while intoxicated]," the statement read.

In 2015, Jones pleaded guilty to his part in a hit-and-run which injured a pregnant woman, while last year he reached a pre-adjudication agreement for two misdemeanour charges against him to be dismissed after an altercation with an anti-doping officer.

Jones also served doping bans in 2016 and 2017, though the United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) said it was confident he did not deliberately use performance-enhancing drugs.