Tag: tom aspinall

Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall? Heavyweight Champ Hints at Big Plans After Meeting with Dana White

Jon Jones vs. Tom AspinallWe might see Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall after all. After UFC 309, Tom Aspinall hinted at “big news”…

Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall

We might see Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall after all. After UFC 309, Tom Aspinall hinted at “big news” following a meeting with UFC boss Dana White and Hunter Campbell. The UK-born Aspinall has long been chasing the Jon Jones match. ‘Bones’ is the current UFC heavyweight champion while Aspinall has been holding and defending the heavyweight interim title, and Jones has refused to meet with the interim king.

Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall

Fans have been begging to see Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall. But ‘Bones’ has refused to confirm the fight saying that he will retire after UFC 309 or face Alex Pereira, the light heavyweight champion. Jones says it’s not a smart business move to meet Aspinall in the octagon.

England’s Tom Aspinall had a behind-the-scenes meeting with the people who run the UFC, Dana White and Hunter Campbell. What was discussed and said is not known however Aspinall has relayed the information and said:

“Just finished off. It is now 3:43 am. Just had a meeting with Dana and the other UFC brass, Hunter, and all success. See ya next time. Big news coming, big news coming.”

Jon Jones TKOs Stipe Miocic with Brutal Spinning Back Kick, Leaves Door Open for Aspinall Fight - UFC 309 Highlights

An optimistic interim champion may be hinting that Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall is likely down the line. Aspinall has been on a tirade through the UFC’s heavyweight division. All eight of his UFC wins have come by way of KO/TKO or submission. He is known for his dangerous speed and power.

Tom Aspinall says Jon Jones can't handle the heat, takes jibes 'very personally'

Jon Jones or Stipe Miocic, Tom Aspinall Does Not Care Who His Next Opponent Is: “Whoever the UFC Gives Me”

Jon Jones or Stipe Miocic, Tom Aspinall Does Not Care Who His Next Opponent Is: "Whoever the UFC Gives Me"Tom Aspinall doesn’t care who his next opponent is. He just wants to fight. Aspinall has been in a…

Jon Jones or Stipe Miocic, Tom Aspinall Does Not Care Who His Next Opponent Is: "Whoever the UFC Gives Me"

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.

Tom Aspinall

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.

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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.

Tom Aspinall

‘This Is The Biggest Duck Of All Time’ – Fans React As Jon Jones Adds Size To List Of Excuses For Not Fighting Tom Aspinall 

UFC Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones is continuing to come under fire for attempting to justify avoiding a title unification fight with Tom Aspinall. Jones is fast approaching his first defense of the heavyweight crown, which he captured in his divisional debut last year by submitting Ciryl Gane in one round. He was quickly penciled in […]

Continue Reading ‘This Is The Biggest Duck Of All Time’ – Fans React As Jon Jones Adds Size To List Of Excuses For Not Fighting Tom Aspinall  at MMA News.

UFC Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones is continuing to come under fire for attempting to justify avoiding a title unification fight with Tom Aspinall.

Jones is fast approaching his first defense of the heavyweight crown, which he captured in his divisional debut last year by submitting Ciryl Gane in one round. He was quickly penciled in to next face Stipe Miocic.

Their planned showdown at Madison Square Garden last November fell through, however, due to an injury on the side of “Bones,” and Tom Aspinall subsequently became interim champ as a result.

Despite the presence of another titleholder, though, Jones has remained steadfast in his desire to face Miocic next instead of unifying the belt. With that, he’ll give making the walk inside MSG to square off with the returning legend a second chance this weekend at UFC 309.

Even beyond that, Aspinall remains an opponent whom the Rochester native is looking to avoid. The champ has expressed a number of reasons for not fighting the Brit this year, from a potential retirement and lack of enthusiasm about the interim king’s record to his desire to face Alex Pereira instead.

And Jones’ list of excuses has expanded in fight week. After suggesting he could vacate the title post-UFC 309 to fight the likes of Jamahal Hill, the former light heavyweight champ said he’s looking to fight athletes close to his size.

It’s worth noting that Jones spent three years on the sidelines to bulk up and prepare for his stint at heavyweight, weighing in at 248 pounds for his divisional debut. That’s just three pounds lighter than Aspinall hit the scales at before knocking out Curtis Blaydes this past July.

Jones’ latest remarks drew plenty of backlash on social media, not least due to the fact his remark on size came during the same media scrum in which he pointed to Derrick Lewis as a “super fight” he could pursue.

The common theme among commenters was the “ducking” accusation that has followed Jones throughout UFC 309 fight week.

Continue Reading ‘This Is The Biggest Duck Of All Time’ – Fans React As Jon Jones Adds Size To List Of Excuses For Not Fighting Tom Aspinall  at MMA News.

VIDEO: Jon Jones Walks Out Of UFC 309 Interview With UK Broadcaster To Avoid ‘Aspinall Fest’

The main event of UFC 309 features the consensus greatest of all time facing the best heavyweight we have seen inside the Octagon for the title in a bout that is over a year in the making. Yet, a lot of the talk during fight week has been about a third man in the picture. […]

Continue Reading VIDEO: Jon Jones Walks Out Of UFC 309 Interview With UK Broadcaster To Avoid ‘Aspinall Fest’ at MMA News.

The main event of UFC 309 features the consensus greatest of all time facing the best heavyweight we have seen inside the Octagon for the title in a bout that is over a year in the making. Yet, a lot of the talk during fight week has been about a third man in the picture.

Though the challenger, Stipe Miocic, has been his usual self all throughout the build up and is only focused on his upcoming clash with Jon Jones after their fight was rescheduled from UFC 295 last year, the narrative surrounding Jones and interim champion Tom Aspinall has dominated the headlines and key talking points.

Jones has faced some criticism over claims he is ducking Aspinall, whom many believe to be the toughest test out there right now and the rightful next opponent for “Bones.” The Rochester native has responded with some criticism of his own that has only led to more drama and discussion.

A video that was posted on social media by TNT Sports, which is the UK broadcaster of the UFC, showed how the Jones and Aspinall tension seemingly isn’t just for the cameras. Jones was carrying out his usual run of media duties as he walked into a room ready to be interviewed by the broadcaster’s team.

With the fight being shown on TNT Sports PPV and the return of the GOAT being the key draw, it’s not surprising that they would want to get some time with the champion ahead of Saturday night.

The clip shows that before Jones sat down, he declined to take part in the interview, telling his team that he didn’t want to do it because of the potential questions that he would be asked.

“Hey, I’m not going to do this interview, you know, because it’s going to be an Aspinall fest. I’m not doing it.”

The video also shows a quick interaction between Jones and the interviewer, TNT Sports’ Adam Catterall. Jones explained that his connection to Aspinall is why he refused to sit down and chat.

“Hey bro, nothing personal. I see how close you guys are, common sense tells me what type of questions I’m going to get asked.”

Catterall responded before the short clip cuts off with Jones walking down the hallway.

“You’re entitled to speak to speak to who you want to speak to.”

Where things get slightly more confusing is that TNT Sports did in fact put up an interview with Jones. At the start of the video, this footage is shown, and after his brief interaction with Catterall, he walks right into another interview with the broadcaster’s other presenter, Nick Peet.

Peet is also close with Aspinall but the two sit down for a full interview, which has led to some pondering if this was a social media bit rather than a legitimate interaction. That isn’t 100 percent clear at this time.

Continue Reading VIDEO: Jon Jones Walks Out Of UFC 309 Interview With UK Broadcaster To Avoid ‘Aspinall Fest’ at MMA News.

Jon Jones Says He’ll Only Entertain ‘Super Fights’ Like Derrick Lewis & Jamahal Hill After UFC 309

Jon Jones won’t extend his fighting career beyond UFC 309 to unify the heavyweight title, but he will if it means fighting the likes of Derrick Lewis and Jamahal Hill. Jones is set to headline this weekend’s pay-per-view at Madison Square Garden, returning 20 months on from his crowning to defend the heavyweight gold for […]

Continue Reading Jon Jones Says He’ll Only Entertain ‘Super Fights’ Like Derrick Lewis & Jamahal Hill After UFC 309 at MMA News.

Jon Jones won’t extend his fighting career beyond UFC 309 to unify the heavyweight title, but he will if it means fighting the likes of Derrick Lewis and Jamahal Hill.

Jones is set to headline this weekend’s pay-per-view at Madison Square Garden, returning 20 months on from his crowning to defend the heavyweight gold for the very first time opposite Stipe Miocic.

Rather than the matchup itself, the main talking point in recent months and days has been the former light heavyweight kingpin’s decision to avoid facing interim titleholder Tom Aspinall, who earned his belt last November as a result of an injury to “Bones.”

And more than just not facing that challenge next, Jones has recently rejected the possibility of fighting Aspinall post-UFC 309 entirely, instead pointing to Alex Pereira as an opponent he’d be willing to share the cage with.

In a media scrum during UFC 309 fight week, Jones continued to dismiss fighting his interim counterpart. This time, though, he added more names to the list of potential opponents he’d favor over the Brit.

But it perhaps came as a surprise when the names Lewis and Hill followed the term “super fights.”

“I could see myself after this entertaining super fights only,” Jones said. “If we get a dominant performance, I’m prepared to vacate the heavyweight championship and fight for fun. I want to fight for fun. … I don’t necessarily want it to be over, but I just want to fight for fun.

“I think about one of my teammates, Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone, he just fights. Win, lose, or draw, he just fights. I would love to kind of experience that for the first time in my career, just not having this belt to protect. Just fighting guys that I’d stylistically want to fight against,” Jones continued. “Random fights like Jamahal Hill. … I’m at an interesting weight where I can fight light heavyweights or heavyweights. Derrick Lewis, Biggest knockout puncher in history.”

Aspinall’s stoppage wins against Alexander Volkov, Sergei Pavlovich, and Curtis Blaydes haven’t stopped Jones branding the Brit’s résumé unworthy of his time, but “Bones” clearly holds Hill’s victories over Jimmy Crute, Johnny Walker, Thiago Santos, and a retiring Glover Teixeira en route to the then-vacant title in high regard.

Lewis, meanwhile, is without a win streak since 2021 and has lost five of his last eight fights.

Suffice to say, it would appear unlikely that the ‘ducking’ accusations being leveled against Jones would dissipate should he vacate the heavyweight title in order to fight the likes of “Sweet Dreams” and “The Black Beast.”

Continue Reading Jon Jones Says He’ll Only Entertain ‘Super Fights’ Like Derrick Lewis & Jamahal Hill After UFC 309 at MMA News.

UFC 309: Jon Jones Hints at Vacating Heavyweight Title, Leaving Tom Aspinall Just One Step from the Top

UFC 309: Jon Jones Hints at Vacating Heavyweight Title, Leaving Tom Aspinall Just One Step from the TopJon Jones has no qualms about vacating the undisputed heavyweight title — especially if it gets him closer to…

UFC 309: Jon Jones Hints at Vacating Heavyweight Title, Leaving Tom Aspinall Just One Step from the Top

Jon Jones has no qualms about vacating the undisputed heavyweight title — especially if it gets him closer to a BMF fight with reigning 205-pound king Alex Pereira.

UFC 309 will see ‘Bones’ put his heavyweight title on the line for the first time since scoring a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it submission victory over Ciryl Gane 20 months ago. This time around, Jones will attempt to both keep his belt and add to his already undeniable legacy when he meets the only two-time titleholder in heavyweight history, Stipe Miocic.

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As it stands, Jones’ victory over Miocic almost feels like a foregone conclusion with sportsbooks like DraftKings having ‘Bones’ favored by a greater-than 6-to-1 margin. And it seems like everyone — ‘Bones’ included — is far more interested in what comes after his fight with Miocic instead of what will happen during it.

Jon Jones

Recently, Jones frustrated some fight fans by suggested that win or lose, he never intends on doing the right thing and unifying his title with that of interim heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall.

Jon Jones thinks a fight with ‘Poatan’ makes much more sense

Jones seemingly doubled down on that statement by suggesting that he’d gladly vacate the heavyweight title for a fight with ‘Poatan’ before ever considering a scrap with Aspinall.

“It’d be cool to fight [Pereira] over the heavyweight championship, but I would also willingly give up the heavyweight championship,” Jones told SportsNet on Monday. “I walked away from the light heavyweight championship, and I’d love to walk away from this one as well on top, on [my] own terms, good head on your shoulders, making lots of money. I love the position that I’m in right now.

“Fighting Pereira for the ‘BMF’ [baddest motherf*cker] belt, that would be cool. We both have two belts in two weight classes, and the night we fought, we’d both be fighting for our third belt – which would be the ‘BMF.’ How cool would that be?” (h/t The Independant).

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There’s no doubt that Jones vs. Pereira is an exciting idea and perhaps the biggest possible fight the UFC could make with Conor McGregor’s return to the Octagon looking less likely with each passing day. But is it the right thing to do?

More importantly, where does that leave Tom Aspinall?

Jon Jones