Tom Aspinall did not have to utter a single word to become the talk of UFC 309 fight week.
Traveling with his father and lifelong coach, U.K. martial arts pioneer Andy Aspinall, the duo presented themselves in New York to fulfill the interim champion’s obligation as backup fighter to Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic.
Although there was an appetite for a unification bout between Jones and Aspinall before the fight week festivities, Jones’ reluctance to show any interest in their meeting stimulated MMA palettes to the point that Jones vs. Aspinall has become arguably the sport’s most desired clash of 2025.
Speaking after sending Miocic into retirement with a third-round finish, Jones admitted he would only entertain a dance with the U.K. standout Aspinall for “f*ck you money.”
Aspinall’s father told Uncrowned the family has been given a promising update with regard to the future unification clash, and that UFC executives Dana White and Hunter Campbell are trying “everything in their power” to make the bout happen.
“I think it will happen in (Las) Vegas,” Andy Aspinall said. “It will happen in the place where they’ll make the most money, won’t it? That’s my opinion.”
Andy Aspinall is confident that Jones considers his son a significant threat and believes the generational talent is undecided on whether he’ll take the fight because of the importance Jones places on maintaining his stellar résumé.
“I think Jon doesn’t know if he wants the fight or not,” he said. “I think he wants the fight to beat Tom, but he also doesn’t want to take that risk because he could lose. He’s not afraid to fight anyone, I’m sure, but I don’t think he wants to lose his unbeaten record. I’m sure that right now he doesn’t know if he’s going to do it and it will depend on the amount of money that they’re offering.”
In an interview released Sunday with MMA personality The Schmo, Jones revealed he and the UFC are already “in negotiations” for his next fight.
“There is [a dollar amount in mind], but I’m not going to discuss that publicly. We’ll just have to wait and see,” Jones said.
“I will be competing in 2025, more than likely.”
With Jones very much in the Aspinall clan’s crosshairs, the acclaimed coach of the UFC interim heavyweight champion gave an appraisal of Jones’ display against Miocic at 37 years old.
“He’s very clever and his selection in what he’s doing is very good,” Andy Aspinall said. “I think his awareness in a fight is tremendous, but he won’t be fighting Miocic when he gets in there with Tom. He’ll be fighting someone bigger, stronger, faster, younger and just better. That will be very hard for him.
“Jones came forward the whole time in that fight, but Miocic was too tired to come forward, or for whatever reason, he just didn’t. Jones was just pushing him back and firing shots at him, Miocic wasn’t offering anything back. He didn’t feint much or anything like that. Tom is the ultimate feinter and he’ll be in and out, and I think Jones will find it hard to see him.”
Aspinall has underlined that his main objective is to be undisputed champion regardless of who he fights, but his business-savvy father can see one particular perk when it comes to locking horns with “Bones.”
“We aren’t bothered who Tom fights, he just wants to hold the belt. It wouldn’t bother him. Jones is good, and as he negotiates for more money, I’m sure the UFC will be fair and give Tom more money,” he said. “Jon has a contract and Tom has a contract, and it takes two to tango as we know. If we keep hearing that Jon is negotiating, that might mean more money for Tom. With that said, Tom doesn’t care who he fights, he just wants to be champion.”
Forecasting what a potential fight between his son and Jones would look like, Andy Aspinall was adamant that the MMA legend will not have encountered anything close to what his 31-year-old son brings to the Octagon at the sport’s heaviest weight class.
“Every person that fights Tom, they’re all dangerous, they all wear these little gloves and they can all hit hard,” he said. “Even Jones, he seemed to hurt Stipe with a lot of the shots that he landed. Who knows why that was, some people say it was because Stipe was old, but it could be because Jon is carrying more power as a heavyweight now.
“Tom will be different to all these people [Jones has] fought before, and I think it will bother him because he’s not seen any film on Tom. A lot of people still don’t know what Tom is really good at. He’s good in lots of different areas as well as just moving in and out, catching people and finishing them. He’s really good at that, and that may very work on Jones.
“[Jones has] two arms, two legs and a head, like every other person [Aspinall] spars, and I don’t think it will bother Tom in the slightest who is stood in front of him when they do eventually fight,” he added.
