Tom Aspinall scoffs at Jon Jones’ stature after intense face off with UFC star: ‘He’s nowhere near as big as me’

Tom Aspinall mocks size of Jon Jones after face off he's nowhere near as big as meTom Aspinall and Jon Jones come face-to-face.  Despite being the No.1 and 2 ranked heavyweights in the UFC, Jones…

Tom Aspinall mocks size of Jon Jones after face off he's nowhere near as big as me

Tom Aspinall and Jon Jones come face-to-face. 

Despite being the No.1 and 2 ranked heavyweights in the UFC, Jones and Aspinall will not be facing each other next, and maybe ever. 

After suffering an injury, Jones was forced to postpone his fight with Stipe Miocic, much to the displeasure of Aspinall. The Brit is currently the interim-heavyweight champion, but has no viable matchup lined up. 

Jon Jones comes face to face with Tom Aspinall quickly takes hand off shoulder in tense meeting

Aspinall had begun to campaign to face with Miocic or Jones next but likely realised that will not be happening.

Tom Aspinall and Jon Jones meet for the very first time

After sharing a small back-and-forths Aspinall and Jones came face-to-face at a fitness event in Birmingham on Saturday. It resulted in a rather awkward meeting which was filmed and posted by Aspinall via his YouTube channel. 

“What’s going on man?” Aspinall began.

Jon Jones undergoes new elbow surgery amid UFC absence your boy's back in the sling

“I’m all good man,” Jones replied as the two shook hands. 

Aspinall would then reach to touch Jones on the shoulder, in what could only be seen as a friendly embrace. Jones would quickly remove Aspinall’s hand all while maintaining eye contact. The Englishman would quickly apologise

“Are we going to do this thing?” Aspinall then asked Jones.

“I would hope so,” Jones responded.

“I would love to – respect,” Aspinall said to Jones. “I would love to have the honor one day.”

Jones answered back, “Maybe one day.”

Aspinall would also ask for a face-off picture with Jones, which was quickly shot down before the two posed for a side-by-side snap. 

Tom Aspinall

“Yeah it was good mate, all peaceful,” Aspinall explained following the interaction. “I wanna fight with him but I don’t wanna fight him at an even, I want to have a UFC fight with him. I just asked if he would give me the opportunity one day, he said he’s healing up good so we’ll see.”

Who wins, Tom Aspinall or Jon Jones? 

Video – Jon Jones comes face to face with Tom Aspinall, quickly takes hand off shoulder in tense meeting

Jon Jones comes face to face with Tom Aspinall quickly takes hand off shoulder in tense meetingComing face-to-face with interim heavyweight champion, Tom Aspinall for the first time amid continued links to a future title…

Jon Jones comes face to face with Tom Aspinall quickly takes hand off shoulder in tense meeting

Coming face-to-face with interim heavyweight champion, Tom Aspinall for the first time amid continued links to a future title unification fight, fellow titleholder, Jon Jones shared a tense meeting and some words with the British favorite, before briskly taking Aspinall’s hand off his shoulder.

Jones, a former two-time light heavyweight champion and current heavyweight gold holder, has been sidelined since he landed vacant division spoils back in March of last year atop UFC 285, submitting Ciryl Gane with a stunning first round guillotine choke submission win.

Jon Anik claims he's not surprised by Jon Jones exit from UFC 295 through injury it was ambitious
Mandatory Credit: David Becker – AP

And as for Atherton native, Apsinall, the surging contender landed the interim heavyweight title back in November at Madison Square Garden, stopping the streak of Russian knockout artist, Sergei Pavlovich with a blistering first round KO win of his own.

Fans lash out ticket prices for UFC 295 Jon Jones Stipe Miocic more than $112,000

Scheduled to headline that card in New York, Rochester native, Jones was forced from a long-anticipated title fight with former champion, Stipe Miocic after he suffered a pectoral tendon tear ahead of the clash.

Tom Aspinall

Expected to fight Ohio veteran, Miocic in his return later this annum, Jones has also been linked with a future title unification bout with the interim champion, Aspinall, who has made his thoughts on a pairing with the ex-pound-for-pound number one more than common knowledge. 

Jon Jones comes face-to-face with Tom Aspinall

And coming face-to-face with Aspinall during an impromptu meeting today, Jones shared some words with the British heavyweight – before knocking back the former’s attempt to put his hand on his own shoulder, briskly removing it during what has to be said was a tense coming together. 

Receiving the backing of UFC CEO, Dana White to land a future fight against either Jones and Miocic off the back of their expected title fight, Aspinall has been touted as a legitimate challenger to the victor by the long-time promotional leader.

Do you think Jon Jones will fight Tom Aspinall in the future?

Video – Jon Jones comes face to face with Tom Aspinall, quickly takes hand off shoulder in tense meeting

Jon Jones comes face to face with Tom Aspinall quickly takes hand off shoulder in tense meetingComing face-to-face with interim heavyweight champion, Tom Aspinall for the first time amid continued links to a future title…

Jon Jones comes face to face with Tom Aspinall quickly takes hand off shoulder in tense meeting

Coming face-to-face with interim heavyweight champion, Tom Aspinall for the first time amid continued links to a future title unification fight, fellow titleholder, Jon Jones shared a tense meeting and some words with the British favorite, before briskly taking Aspinall’s hand off his shoulder.

Jones, a former two-time light heavyweight champion and current heavyweight gold holder, has been sidelined since he landed vacant division spoils back in March of last year atop UFC 285, submitting Ciryl Gane with a stunning first round guillotine choke submission win.

Jon Anik claims he's not surprised by Jon Jones exit from UFC 295 through injury it was ambitious
Mandatory Credit: David Becker – AP

And as for Atherton native, Apsinall, the surging contender landed the interim heavyweight title back in November at Madison Square Garden, stopping the streak of Russian knockout artist, Sergei Pavlovich with a blistering first round KO win of his own.

Fans lash out ticket prices for UFC 295 Jon Jones Stipe Miocic more than $112,000

Scheduled to headline that card in New York, Rochester native, Jones was forced from a long-anticipated title fight with former champion, Stipe Miocic after he suffered a pectoral tendon tear ahead of the clash.

Tom Aspinall

Expected to fight Ohio veteran, Miocic in his return later this annum, Jones has also been linked with a future title unification bout with the interim champion, Aspinall, who has made his thoughts on a pairing with the ex-pound-for-pound number one more than common knowledge. 

Jon Jones comes face-to-face with Tom Aspinall

And coming face-to-face with Aspinall during an impromptu meeting today, Jones shared some words with the British heavyweight – before knocking back the former’s attempt to put his hand on his own shoulder, briskly removing it during what has to be said was a tense coming together. 

Receiving the backing of UFC CEO, Dana White to land a future fight against either Jones and Miocic off the back of their expected title fight, Aspinall has been touted as a legitimate challenger to the victor by the long-time promotional leader.

Do you think Jon Jones will fight Tom Aspinall in the future?

Video – UFC champion Jon Jones sends kid to the hospital after delivering vicious leg kick while training

Video - UFC champion Jon Jones sends kid to the hospital after delivering vicious leg kick while trainingToday’s example of f*ck around and find out comes courtesy of UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones. In a video…

Video - UFC champion Jon Jones sends kid to the hospital after delivering vicious leg kick while training

Today’s example of f*ck around and find out comes courtesy of UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

In a video clip shared by @DovySimuMMA on X, ‘Bones’ unloaded a rather nasty-looking low kick on someone who probably has no business standing across the greatest mixed martial artist in the sport’s history. The results are exactly what you would expect.

Jones has been out of action ever since he returned to claim the heavyweight crown with a quick submission victory over perennial contender Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 last year. Originally, ‘Bones’ was scheduled to defend his title in a superfight with former two-time titleholder Stipe Miocic in November, but Jones was forced to bow out after suffering a pectoral tear weeks ahead of fight night.

Jon Jones tears his pectoral

Will Tom Aspinall Take Another Fight While He Waits for jon jones?

During his downtime, Jon Jones also had some work done on his elbow before his comeback, tentatively scheduled for sometime this summer. Upon his return, ‘Bones’ will defend his title against Miocic with the winner (hopefully) moving on to unify their title with current interim champion Tom Aspinall.

Interim champion Tom Aspinall wins belt while Jon Jones recovers from injury

Aspinall won the belt at UFC 295, scoring a 69-second KO against Sergei Pavlovich. The UK fan favorite hoped to unify his title with ‘Bones’ as soon as the undisputed champ was cleared for a return, but he’ll have to wait a bit longer while Jones settles some business with Miocic first.

However, we could potentially see Aspinall take a fight in the interim. Following Curtis Blaydes’ sensational second-round knockout of Jailton Almeida at UFC 299, ‘Razor’ could be in line for a rematch with Aspinall after scoring a quick 15-second TKO against the Salford, England in 2022.

Tom Aspinall comments on Jon Jones’ ‘fat’ physique at PFL vs. Bellator event: ‘He doesn’t look in good shape’

Tom AspinallTom Aspinall admitted that Jon Jones doesn’t appear to be “in good shape” after the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion…

Tom Aspinall

Tom Aspinall admitted that Jon Jones doesn’t appear to be “in good shape” after the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion made an appearance at the PFL vs. Bellator event in Saudi Arabia.

Jones has been on the sidelines since capturing the heavyweight title with a quick finish of Ciryl Gane in May. ‘Bones’ was originally scheduled to defend his belt against two-time titleholder Stipe Miocic at UFC 295, but he suffered a pectoral injury in the weeks leading up to the bout, forcing him to bow out.

Despite his inactivity in the Octagon, Jones has been making public appearances, including a trip to Thailand where he visited a few gyms, and at Bellator’s joint event with PFL. Fans quickly noticed that Jones was looking heftier than usual, even with the pounds he packed on for his move from 205 to heavyweight. Though the criticism was mostly light-hearted, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou — who was also in attendance at the PFL event — noted that ‘Bones’ looked “f*cking fat.”

Reigning over the UFC’s heavyweight division in Jones Jones’ absence, interim champion Tom Aspinall offered his own take on the MMA GOAT’s pleasantly plump appearance.

“Just because he doesn’t look in good shape doesn’t mean that he can’t fight very well because he is Jon Jones and is one of the best to have ever done it,” Aspinall said in an interview with Bettson. “I don’t know Jon personally and I’m not connected to him in that way, so I don’t know where he is mentally. I’d love him to fight and keep going so I get a chance to fight him but who knows.”

Standing 6’5″ and tipping the scales at over 260 pounds, Aspinall knows a thing or two about how quickly a fighter his size can appear to be out of shape after just a few short months of inactivity.

“Yeah, for instance, if I don’t train for a couple of months, I’m going to look in bad shape so that’s the way it is,” Aspinall explained. “As a big guy, you need to be eating a lot of calories and if you’re not burning them, there’s only one place they’re going to go. Jon looks heavy right now but maybe that’s normal for him to look like that outside of training camp.”

Video – UFC star Jon Jones shows off slicing elbow technique during seminar at Bang Tao MMA in Thailand

UFC star Jon Jones shows off slicing elbow technique during seminar at Bang Tao MMARecently teaching fans and fellow fighters a shrewd knee to the midsection technique he utilizied expertly against two-time foe,…

UFC star Jon Jones shows off slicing elbow technique during seminar at Bang Tao MMA

Recently teaching fans and fellow fighters a shrewd knee to the midsection technique he utilizied expertly against two-time foe, Daniel Cormier during their UFC rivalry, current heavyweight champion, Jon Jones this time let onlookers in on his patented elbow strikes during his latest seminar at Bang Tao MMA in Thailand.

Jones, a former two-time light heavyweight champion, and the current heavyweight champion, has been sidelined from the Octagon since he won the vacant belt back in March of last year at UFC 285 – laying waste to former interim champion, Ciryl Gane with a blistering first round guillotine choke submission win.

And expected to make his return later this annum, Jones has been backed to feature as soon as this summer against former two-time heavyweight kingpin, Stipe Miocic – in a long-anticipated offing between the duo. 

Still completing recovery from a pair of recent surgical procedures, Rochester native, Jones was slated to headline UFC 295 back in November against the above-mentioned, Miocic, until a pectoral tendon tear suffered just two weeks out from the bout forced his withdrawal from the Madison Square Garden clash. 

Jon Jones shows off striking at Bang Tao MMA

And taking his talents to Phuket this month – Jones has taken part at numerous seminars at Bang Tao MMA in Thailand – the leading Muay Thai and mixed martial arts facility in the region, where he has demonstrated many a technique for both onlooking fans and fellow fighting talents.

“Jon Jones teaches slick elbow techniques utilized in many of his title fights throughout the years,” Hyon Ko posted on his official X account. “He showed how he set up his elbows from both stances and gave subtle tips.” 

Sharing his thoughts on Jones decision to take part in many seminars at the facility in Phuket, Connor McBride, head western boxing coach at Bang Tao MMA spoke of his excitement at the UFC star’s arrival at the gym.

“Grateful, it’s mad – Bang Tao is the place to be at the minute,” McBride said in a press release obtained by LowKick MMA. “We got GSP (Georges St-Pierre), we have Zhang Weili training here, now, we’ve got Jon Jones. The place just keeps getting better, bringing better people – [he’s the] UFC heavyweight champion of the world, probably the best ever fighter on planet Earth is here at Bang Tao. If you’re not here, you’re missing out.”