Tom Aspinall was one of the biggest stars of UFC 309 fight week and he didn’t even step into the Octagon. The heavyweight division is ready to get back in order, and that means a clash between the two men holding titles. Now, it’s just a matter of making it a reality.
UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones made a successful return to action this past Saturday when he defended his crown with a third-round knockout against Stipe Miocic. The bout was largely touted as a service to both legends rather than a product of meritocracy, highlighting Miocic’s all-time great status as a former two-time champion despite the 25-fight veteran’s three-year layoff, which stemmed from a brutal second-round knockout loss to Francis Ngannou in March 2021.
There’s also the fact that Aspinall captured the interim title and already defended it once in the time since Jones and Miocic’s original November 2023 booking was cancelled due to a Jones injury.
Aspinall, 31, was front and center in New York for the fight and slotted in the backup role in case disaster struck again. Fortunately, Jones and Miocic made it to fight night, but Aspinall admitted Monday that he couldn’t relax until UFC 309’s co-main event ended. It wouldn’t have been the best-case scenario to have a fight of such magnitude on short notice regardless, but Aspinall doesn’t believe Jones would’ve accepted it anyway.
“I think Stipe would have done it,” Aspinall said Monday of a short-notice fight on Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “I obviously think it’s one of the biggest fights in MMA right now. I’m not a 42-year-old Stipe and Jon knows it. Jon’s a lot smarter than a lot of people think. Jon knows exactly what he’s up against.
“Jon’s just flirting with everybody. Jon’s being a sassy little flirt with everybody and it’s great. It’s fantastic, I love it. This fight is going to happen, man.”
The biggest concern of essentially the entire MMA community has been Jones bailing early for retirement before a potential Aspinall unification bout. “Bones” made it clear in the lead-up to his Miocic matchup that Aspinall is of no interest; or at least, he wasn’t before Jones’ victory at UFC 309.
Jones, 37, teased post-fight that he may not be done after all and that an Aspinall fight could be possible should he get a big enough payday to make it worth his time, though he reiterated that UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira remains the big target in his crosshairs.
Aspinall is positive that things are trending in that right — and logical — direction after a good meeting with UFC brass before he departed New York.
“I don’t air people’s secrets out like that, but what I can say is that it went very, very positive,” Aspinall said of the meeting. “They’ve got a lot of negotiating to do obviously, of course; that’s the way that the world works, especially at this level. But I’m very optimistic. I’m very, very optimistic.
“I think [Jones] should be compensated well,” he added. “I agree, because I’m a damn dangerous fight for him. The most dangerous of his career at this stage. By far. And he knows it. Of course he wants money.
“Stylistically, [Pereira’s] probably an easier fight [for Jones]. Not that Pereira’s an easy fight, because he’s really dangerous. But I think he probably looks at it and thinks it’s a bit easier. He talked about the weight and the age and all that. Bro, I’m heavier than him but we’re fighting in the same division. He chose to come up to heavyweight. So I know he talked about me being a lot bigger than him, but we’re technically in the same weight division. That ain’t my problem, bro. If you want to fight guys lighter, go to 205.”
The often frustrating heavyweight saga started in late 2023 and has persisted ever since. Aspinall has already defended his interim title once, defeating Curtis Blaydes via a 60-second knockout this past July. He’s said that will be it and he won’t fight without undisputed gold on the line in his next time out.
It’s not about Jones. Aspinall just wants to unify the belts and be known as the undisputed heavyweight king. He’s ready whenever; the timeline for a potential Jones encounter lies with the all-time great.
However, don’t expect Aspinall to have the same level of patience as Michael Chandler, who waited two years for a Conor McGregor fight that never materialized.
“This is zero disrespect to Michael Chandler, but I just said that I don’t want to be in a Michael Chandler situation,” Aspinall said. “I’m not interested in it. [UFC] assured me that that’s not going to happen.
“I want to be active and I want to fight while I’m healthy and young. Then I want to move on and do something else.
“I have no idea [when I’ll fight]. We’ll see,” he concluded. “I’m an easygoing guy, man. You don’t have to talk me into it too much. Throw me in a pair of gloves, tell me where. I’ll be there.”
