Tom Aspinall took care of business. Again.
Now the ball is in Jon Jones’ court.
In the co-main event of UFC 204 on Saturday in Manchester, England, Aspinall authored an emphatic defense of his interim heavyweight title by defeating Curtis Blaydes via first-round knockout. Not only did Aspinall avenge a fluke injury loss to Blaydes from 2022, he kept himself in line for a fight with Jones, the UFC champion he has been angling to fight for more than a year.
Aspinall assumes Jones was watching and that the last thing he wanted to see was Aspinall’s hand being raised.
“Jon’s the undisputed champion, but I’m the best in the world, if that makes any sense,” Aspinall said at the UFC 304 post-fight press conference. “We know what Jon’s doing. Jon was there, crossing his fingers and toes tonight hoping I’d lose to Curtis, let’s not bullshit about it. He posted about it loads anyway that I’m going to lose to him. That didn’t happen, so that’s the fight I want next.”
While it’s true Jones has been vocal about sticking to a previously booked matchup with heavyweight great Stipe Miocic as opposed to entertaining a fight with Aspinall, “Bones” was surprisingly absent from social media following Aspinall’s UFC 304 win.
Aspinall assumed Jones had chimed in by night’s end, but even if Jones doesn’t comment anytime soon, Aspinall feels their potential matchup already has plenty of steam behind it.
“I didn’t know that we hadn’t [heard from Jones], I’m sure we will at some stage,” Aspinall said. “He’ll be very angry about it or the fact that everyone’s saying that I can beat him, but that’s OK. On the contrary to what Jon Jones fanboys might think, I have nothing against Jon Jones as a person. I think I’m the best heavyweight in the world and if he thinks he’s the best heavyweight in the world, let’s settle it. Simple as that. It’s not rocket science. There’s two guys who are claiming to be the best heavyweight in the world. Let’s settle it, simple as that.”
“Jon Jones is a strange guy,” Aspinall later added. “I don’t know what he’s doing. He does some weird moves. I’m just over here trying to be the best heavyweight in the world, be the best version of myself. He’s done all that. He’s done everything. I’m not taking away from what he’s done in his career. The guy’s career is unbelievable, but me personally, I’m trying to fight people and that’s it. So I don’t know what he’s doing, I can’t speak for him.”
Jones has not fought since March 2023, when he dominated Ciryl Gane to win a vacant heavyweight title at UFC 285. He was scheduled to fight Miocic the following November, but was forced out of that bout due to injury.
A re-booking has not been announced, but all signs point to Jones and Miocic headlining UFC’s annual trip to Madison Square Garden in New York this November.
Aspinall awaits the winner.
“Whoever wins that one, I’m fighting next,” Aspinall said. “Unless they both retire.”
One of the only other options that makes sense for Aspinall right now would be light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. “Poatan” has won gold at 185 pounds and 205 pounds, and would become the first three-division champion in UFC history if he moved up to heavyweight and defeated Aspinall.
That’s not Aspinall’s ideal scenario, but he could be talked into it with the right twist.
“They’re saying that Stipe and Jon Jones are going to fight in MSG in November,” Aspinall said. “Why don’t we do a tournament? We’ll do Jon, Stipe, me, Alex, and do a full-on tournament. Two fights in one night. And let’s find out who the real heavyweight champion of the world is. We’ve got the best heavyweight of all-time. We’ve got the best MMA fighter of all-time. We’ve got the light heavyweight champion. And then we’ve got me, who’s just a poxy interim champion.
“Let’s do that, two fights in one night, put it to Dana [White]. … I am honestly the biggest fan of Alex Pereira. He is one scary guy, but would that not be a cool little thing? Two fights in one night, let’s see how we get on. I’ve got the lowest average fight time in the UFC and it’s even lower after tonight. My chances of doing alright in that are pretty good. Let’s put some money on the table and let’s see who the guy is at heavyweight.”
