Tom Aspinall doesn’t care who his next opponent is. He just wants to fight.
Aspinall has been in a bit of MMA purgatory over the last year after claiming the interim heavyweight title via a 69-second knockout of Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 around this same time last year.
Generally, the temporary titleholder’s next fight is against the promotion’s undisputed champion — that being Jon Jones in this case.
However, Jones has instead opted to move forward with his previously scheduled scrap with Stipe Miocic — a fight that will go down this Saturday night when the promotion returns to Madison Square Garden for UFC 309.
Aspinall doesn’t care who he fights as long as it’s for the undisputed heavyweight title
Aspinall will be on hand to act as the official backup for the fight. He also hopes to finally find out who he’ll be fighting next, but as the Brit revealed in a recent interview with Scott Fontana, he’s not particularly concerned with who he fights so long as it leads him to the undisputed heavyweight crown.
“I want to fight as soon as possible, ideally in the spring,” Aspinall told New York Post. “Whoever the UFC gives me for the undisputed title, I’ll fight. I’m not bothered. My focus is on the undisputed title, not Jon Jones specifically. Whoever holds it is irrelevant—I just want to hold it.”
There’s a good chance that Aspinall’s next fight comes against either Miocic or Jones. The former already has one foot in retirement and likely won’t stick around for another fight beyond UFC 309.
Meanwhile, the latter has repeatedly dismissed a potential showdown with Aspinall and is instead lobbying for a BMF fight with reigning light heavyweight titleholder Alex Pereira — a pairing Dana White has no interest in booking.
