Tom Aspinall: Interim UFC heavyweight champion says he will 'retire Jon Jones without even fighting him'
By Leon Imber
Published 20/08/2024 at 20:38 GMT+1
Tom Aspinall believes he should be next up to fight Jon Jones for the UFC heavyweight championship title, rather than Stipe Miocic. Aspinall has taken aim at Jones, who is set to put his title on the line in November. "I'll retire Jon Jones without even fighting him,” he said. Aspinall's last appearance in the octagon saw him emerge with a first-round TKO victory.
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Tom Aspinall believes he should be next up for a heavyweight unification fight against current title-holder Jon Jones.
Jones will put his title on the line on November 9 when he faces two-time champion Stipe Miocic. Aspinall is set to play a backup role for the fight, but he believes he should be first in line for the chance to topple title-holder Jones.
Miocic, 42, will appear for the first time since his second-round TKO defeat to Francis Ngannou in March 2021.
“The way I look at it, I’m the best heavyweight in the world,” Aspinall said on the 'Believe You Me' podcast with Michael Bisping and Anthony Smith.
“I’m not getting my credit for it. They’re holding the belt hostage and Jon Jones is loving it. He’s loving the fact that Dana is getting on every interview possible [talking him up].
“You’re talking about bantamweights, and Dana White flips it and starts talking about how good Jon Jones is.
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“I’m like, 'if he’s that good, let’s fight’. I’m the No. 1 heavyweight right now. Let’s put it on the line, and let’s see who the man is. Me or Jon."
Aspinall stands as the current interim UFC heavyweight champion, but he is adamant he can claim the main title – which he has been tipped to claim for many years.
The 31-year-old emphatically claimed the interim title in November 2023, delivering a stunning first-round TKO to Sergei Pavlovich.
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The Englishman added that current champion Jones has been keen to avoid being slated against him in a unification bout.
"Jon Jones, he was praying that I would lose that fight against Curtis Blaydes, praying that I would because there’s no way that you find publicly, nowhere, him saying that he would fight me,” he said.
“It doesn’t exist. I challenge everyone watching this interview to find a statement, a quote, a video where Jon Jones is saying that he’ll fight me after he fights Stipe. It doesn’t exist. The guy is smart.
“We know he’s a bit overweight these days. The guy sat there with the Cheetos fingers or whatever, the Doritos fingers with his iPhone in his hand, waiting for me to get knocked out so he can start tweeting about it.
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“Since I won that fight, he’s been completely silent and continues to go completely quiet about me because there’s no way on earth that he’s going to fight me.
“I’ll retire Jon Jones without even fighting him.”
Jones claimed the heavyweight title in March 2023, after he returned from a three-year absence from the sport to down Ciryl Gane via submission in the first round.
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