Tom Aspinall seems overwhelmingly relieved that he can finally move on from talks of an undisputed title bout with Jon Jones.
Aspinall had been linked to lock horns with UFC heavyweight Jones in the Octagon for what seemed like years, until the Brit confirmed last week that ‘Bones’ had retired, and he would be fighting someone else to ‘get this division moving again.’
Aspinall has said his saga with Jones is ‘in the past’ and he’s excited to fight againGettyThe 32-year-old has held the interim heavyweight strap for 577 days as of June 4, 2025, and decided enough was enough in terms of challenging to Jones to unify their division.
Jones sent fans into a frenzy at the start of June when he revealed that he had ‘agreed’ a deal with Aspinall to wait for a UFC announcement on their future.
But this ‘deal’ will seemingly lead to an announcement that Jones is vacating his title, and Wigan native Aspinall will contest for the undisputed belt against No. 2 ranked heavyweight Ciryl Gane.
Aspinall has been training twice per day since his last fight at UFC 304 in July, when he exacted revenge on his only defeat in the promotion by knocking out Curtis Blaydes in 60 seconds.
He has been left in limbo since that victory, regarding his next UFC fight, but it seems now that he is in complete clarity over the situation as he explained to friend of 10 years and fellow MMA star Pimblett.
“[Jones is] living his best life in Thailand,” Aspinall told Pimblett when the Liverpudlian asked him about the situation.
No. 8 ranked UFC lightweight Pimblett uploaded a YouTube this week, training with Aspinall for the first time nearly two months since his own dominant victory over Michael Chandler.
“Everybody reaches their sell by date don’t they? Everybody’s got a time limit, he’s reached it, and we move on,” Aspinall continued
Pimblett was in the camp of the majority when he revealed that anyone else in Jones’ position would’ve been stripped of the UFC title by now.
“It obviously was a bit annoying at the time, but it’s all in the past now, we’re moving forward, everything’s good and we can get fighting again,” Aspinall responded.
Aspinall told Pimblett he’s feeling better now as he has a fight ‘soon’Paddy The Baddy - YouTube It now seems pretty clear that Jones vs Aspinall is not going to happenGetty“I just want to get fighting again. It’s not the best [constantly speaking about Jones].
“It’s better now, though, as I do know what’s going on a bit. I’m going to fight soon, so that’s nice, but for the last six months I’ve just not known what’s going on.
“Money, fame, ranking, titles – I just like fighting. That’s what I got into [MMA] for. I didn’t really get into it for anything else.
“All of the other stuff is nice to have on top. I want to be the best fighter I can be, I’m in the gym everyday, I just want to fight.
“That’s been taken away from me for nearly a year now, and it’s got nothing to do with me, which is a bit frustrating to be honest, but we are nearly over it now which is good.”
Jones, 37, defeated Gane to win heavyweight gold for the first time after a three-year hiatus from the sport in March 2023.
Jones submitted Gane after just two minutes to win the heavyweight title in 2023Getty It seems like Gane will now face Aspinall for undisputed status in both men’s next fightAFPHe then retained the strap against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 last November in what has been his one and only defence of the belt since.
Eight months after Jones submitted Gane, the former got injured, so Aspinall stepped in to fight fellow heavyweight giant Sergei Pavlovich for the interim strap.
He won the bout at UFC 295 by scoring his sixth first-round knockout in Dana White‘s promotion before doing the same to Blaydes.
Aspinall has since been desperate, not so much to fight Jones, but to contest for unified heavyweight gold.
“I couldn’t have somebody else saying they were going to beat me and not at least fight them,” Aspinall concluded.
“Then, if I lose I lose – at least I tried my best. It’s a crazy situation, but there’s a lot of politics in the UFC at the top levels.
Men's Pound-For-Pound UFC Rankings
Islam Makhachev Merab Dvalishvili Jon Jones Ilia Topuria Dricus Du Plessis Magomed Ankalaev Alexander Volkanovski Jack Della Maddalena Alex Pereira Alexandre Pantoja Tom Aspinall Max Holloway Belal Muhammad Charles Oliveira Arman Tsarukyan“It’s out of my hands, so there’s nothing really else I can do about it.”
UFC President and CEO White was questioned about the heavyweight bout after UFC 316 in New Jersey this past weekend.
“I’ve been saying it since the beginning, Jon Jones agreed to do the fight,” White revealed.
“Jon Jones was offered the deal and accepted the deal.”
Reports have suggested that Jones did indeed accept the fight, but has since had a change of heart and is now potentially eyeing up a lucrative bout with PFL star and ex-UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Tom Aspinall opens up with Paddy Pimblett in honest chat over Jon Jones saga: ‘It’s a crazy situation’ )
Also on site :