If Tom Aspinall gets his wish, he will face Jon Jones next in the biggest heavyweight fight in UFC history.
While that matchup was everything he wanted since capturing the interim heavyweight title in November 2023, the British slugger had to wait while Jones dealt with unfinished business with Stipe Miocic. On Saturday night at UFC 309, Jones did his part with a one-sided performance before finishing Miocic with a vicious spinning back kick to the body in the third round.
As soon as the fight was over, Aspinall immediately started thinking about a future where he shares the same octagon with Jones and he believes the UFC has the same idea.
“When Jon Jones gave his speech, I looked directly at the UFC brass, Dana (White) and Hunter (Campbell),” Aspinall said during the UFC 309 post-fight show. “They both turned to me at the same time, pointed at me and winked. At the same time. So to me this means something big is in the pipeline.
“This is the biggest fight in the UFC. This is huge. This is possibly one of the biggest fights in MMA right now. If that doesn’t interest Jon Jones, I don’t know what else we can do. Everyone knows this is the battle we must fight. This is the fight the people want. This is the fight the UFC wants. This is the fight the fans want. This is the battle that needs to happen now.”
While Jones discussed the possibility of facing Aspinall, he also mentioned his compensation as the biggest obstacle to whether or not he returns for another fight or retires. With a nearly flawless record over 16 years with the promotion and more title fight wins than anyone in UFC history, Jones’ legacy will be cemented no matter what happens next.
For his part, Aspinall won’t take away from the body of work Jones has amassed during his career, but he also knows they can do a lot of business together.
“I’ve talked to the UFC brass a little bit, I’m going to talk to them some more, and in my opinion, obviously I’m a little biased, but I think this is the greatest heavyweight fight in UFC history. ,” said Aspinall. “This is what people want to see.”
As for what he saw during the fight at UFC 309, Aspinall wasn’t surprised by how things played out.
Aspinall was certainly impressed with Jones’ ability to get the knockout. He also noticed that Miocic looked his age after not fighting for almost four years, with his last appearance in the UFC coming all the way back in 2021.
“It was, as you Americans say, by design,” Aspinall said. “It was exactly as I thought. It was exactly what I thought would happen. To be honest, I wasn’t sure Jon could finish him. I thought it might be a five-rounder at that pace. Jon picks him off, Jon keeps his reach, Jon backs him up, Jon mixes the attacks between the head, the body, the legs, the spinning back kicks to the body, the wrestling, he does it all incredibly well.
“I think to beat Jon Jones the most important thing you need is good eyes. Good responses, fast responses. Being able to see and do everything and react very quickly. Frankly, Stipe Miocic — and this is said with great respect — at 42 years old, just didn’t have that.”
Although Aspinall has been studying Jones in anticipation of a potential fight between them, he had actually never seen the reigning UFC heavyweight champion perform in person before Saturday night.
“I definitely see openings,” Aspinall said. “Whether I can do it or not, I don’t know. From the outside looking in, I think I can do it.”
