Sorry, Tom Aspinall, you’re not getting “Bones.”
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight champion Jon Jones makes his long-awaited return to the octagon at UFC 309 next weekend (Sat., Nov. 16, 2024) against former Heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic from inside the most iconic arena in the world, Madison Square Garden in New York City.
While Jones has Miocic in front of him next week, it seems like the entire mixed martial arts (MMA) world wants to know if “Bones” will fight the current interim Heavyweight champion, Aspinall.
Well, we finally have an answer (that everyone already knew): Probably not.
“More than likely not,” Jones told Kevin Iole when asked if he would fight Aspinall if victorious at UFC 309. “I feel like Tom Aspinall is, I don’t want to say nobody, but he just hasn’t proven anything. He hasn’t done anything. I understand he won his belt against Sergei [Pavlovich], and Sergei just got slaughtered by someone else, so it’s like, I’m not here to gamble someone else making a name off of me. I’m here to compete against the guys where when we look back, you know, 10 years from now, you’ll be like, ‘Jon Jones fought this guy and that guy, this legend, and that champion and this champion.”
Aspinall has indeed proven himself against half of the current Top 10 Heavyweights. In fact, he has finished three of the top five fighters in the 265 lb division, with Ciryl Gane being the only one he hasn’t faced yet.
If Jones does continue to fight after UFC 309 instead of retiring, the current UFC Light Heavyweight champion is the only fighter who interests him.
“If there were to be a fight of a guy that’s still on our UFC roster, that would be not only financially worth it but also legacy worth it- it would be Alex Pereira,” Jones said. “We’re both 37 years old. Right now, I weigh about 235. I’m an incredibly light Heavyweight. I think Pereira walks around at 240. I think that fight would go much farther on my legacy than a young man who’s cool today and may be gone tomorrow.
A fight between Jones and Alex Pereira would undoubtedly be absolutely massive, especially for the casual audience, but a fight with Aspinall would be equally as big—if promoted correctly.
It looks like poor Aspinall will miss fighting the best fighter ever.
Bummer.