Reigning UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones offered up his reaction to Tom Aspinall’s call-out at UFC London.
On Saturday, the promotion returned to the O2 Arena for another stacked night of fights in The Big Smoke. In the co-main event of the evening, local fan favorite ‘Meatball’ Molly McCann came up short in her return to the Octagon, suffering a first-round submission loss at the hands of Julija Stoliarenko. The UK crowd was understandably dejected, but it didn’t take long for them to forget all about McCann’s fumble once heavyweight contender Tom Aspinall stepped inside the Octagon.
Returning a year after suffering a devastating knee injury 15 seconds into his last appearance against Curtis Blaydes, Tom Aspinall showed the world that not only is he back, but he’s better than ever. Aspinall only needed 73 seconds to dispatch his opponent, Marcin Tybura, and re-establish himself as one of the heavyweight division’s most legitimate contenders.
Following the victory, Aspinall laid out a very simple three-step plan en route to becoming the UFC heavyweight world champion.
“I’m gonna go to Paris, I’m gonna sit in the front row and see Cyril Gane vs. Serghei Spivak, I’m gonna beat the winner, and then I’m gonna beat Jon Jones,” Aspinall said in his post-fight interview.“
Jon Jones is Ready to Welcome Tom Aspinall to the Title Picture
It didn’t take long for the heavyweight champ to issue a response. Taking to Twitter, Jon Jones seemingly approved of Aspinall’s plan. “Sounds good lol,” Jones tweeted.
Tom Aspinall is now 6-1 inside the Octagon, his only loss coming due to the knee injury he suffered in London last year. Prior to that, Aspinall picked off two absolute juggernauts in the heavyweight division, Alexander Volkov and Sergei Spivac. Aspinall has finished all of his opponents under the UFC banner thus far with only one of them, Andrei Arlovski, escaping the first round.
He currently sits as the No. 5 ranked fighter in the division and is likely one big win away from solidifying himself as the next man in line for a heavyweight title opportunity.
Currently, Jon Jones is slated to defend his title against general consensus heavyweight GOAT Stipe Miocic when the promotion returns to the world-famous Madison Square Garden in November for UFC 295.