The UFC is currently trying to make arguably the biggest fight in the history of the heavyweight division. The promotion is working overtime to try and book the showdown between heavyweight champion Jon Jones (28-1, 1 NC) and interim champion Tom Aspinall (15-3).
Aspinall won the interim title back in November 2023 on the night that Jon Jones was initially supposed to defend his title against Stipe Miocic at MSG. Jones tore his pec and the fight was postponed a year. Aspinall defended the interim title over the summer last year and stopped Curtis Blaydes in the first round.
Jones ended up fighting Miocic this past November and stopped Miocic to retain his UFC heavyweight title. It seems that it’s academic to make the fight between Aspinall and Jones. However, it’s not that simple. Jon Jones has said that he may or may not fight again. He has nothing to prove and can retire now as the greatest fighter of all time in my eyes and the yes of many.
Jones does have one fight that he’s very intrigued by. It’s not a fight with Tom Aspinall, it’s a fight with light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira (12-2). Jones said back in November that he’s more interested in doing something big for his legacy and he views Pereira as a bigger fight than the interim heavyweight champion. Pereira defends his light heavyweight title this weekend at UFC 313 against Magomed Ankalaev. I can assure you that Jones will be watching that fight.
Tom Aspinall Wants Undisputed UFC Championship
Jones has also publicly said that he’s willing to vacate the heavyweight title in order to face Pereira. Of course, the UFC is doing everything they can to book the Aspinall – Jones fight. Dana White has said that Aspinall has to be next for the heavyweight title and if Jones wins against Aspinall, then they could do the Pereira fight.
I think Alex Pereira’s performance this weekend will give us all an idea of what might be next. If Pereira runs through Ankalaev, I think the UFC might seriously consider pivoting towards booking Jones – Pereira because of the money behind that fight. However, I don’t think they’d do it for the heavyweight title. I can’t see them doing that to Tom Aspinall. I think it would either be at light heavyweight or a special heavyweight fight with no belt on the line.
In that scenario, I would see Jones vacating the heavyweight title which would crown Tom Aspinall as the undisputed champion. Tom Aspinall took to his YouTube page this week to update his fans on the situation. He said that he’s been doing everything in his power to get the UFC to finalize the fight with Jones, but the decision at this point is with Jon Jones.
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Aspinall made it clear that if he has to move on, he’s more than willing to. He’s willing to fight Ciryl Gane and he’s willing to fight Jailton Almeida. However, there’s a catch. Aspinall said that he’ll only fight if it’s for the undisputed UFC heavyweight title and you cannot blame him for that.
From here, I think we are looking at a few different outcomes and none of which feature Jon Jones retiring. I think no matter what, we will see Jon Jones at least one more time. Call me crazy, but I still think the most likely outcome is Jones and Aspinall fighting for the heavyweight title this year. I just think the UFC will get that done.
Another outcome I could see is if Pereira wins this weekend, Jones vacates the title in order to fight Poatan. There is one other wild card option out there which might change Aspinall’s mind regarding the interim title. Perhaps if Pereira wins, the UFC decides to book Aspinall – Pereira for the interim heavyweight title.
Pereira would be going for a third title while Aspinall would be looking to take out the one man Jon Jones wants to fight. The interim title would be on the line but the winner would be guaranteed a fight with Jon Jones in November at Madison Square Garden. It’s going to be very interesting to see how the next few weeks play out. Of course, Magomed Ankalaev could play the ultimate spoiler this weekend and ruin scenarios two and three.
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