Tom Aspinall isn’t slowing down in his longtime pursuit of Jon Jones.
Interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall and Jon Jones remain at a stand-off amidst fight negotiations to unify the heavyweight belts. But despite the uncertainty of a matchup coming to fruition, the bad blood between them continues to boil.
After Jones successfully defended his lineal heavyweight championship against Stipe Miocic, he turned his attention away from retirement teases and towards a possible clash with Aspinall. Since winning the then-interim title at UFC 295, Aspinall has fought just once in his long wait for Jones, defending the belt against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304.
The Jones vs. Aspinall fight negotiations are approaching their sixth month of discussions. But while Aspinall and Jones remain optimistic in making a fight come to fruition, the UFC heads remain hard at work figuring out the details of their targeted matchup.
Tom Aspinall mocks Jon Jones as fight talks remain in a holding pattern
Before Jones defeated Miocic, he expressed a defiant stance in facing Aspinall, pitching a super fight against then-UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. But after Pereira’s loss at UFC 313, the Pereira vs. Jones fight fell off the table, and attention solidified towards the Aspinall fight.
Despite the Aspinall fight being Jones’s top option, there hasn’t been a lot of movement in negotiations in recent weeks. It was originally pitched that Jones and Aspinall could clash for the UFC’s International Fight Week event in June, but two months out, that timeline is unlikely to follow through.
The ongoing delays continue to irk Aspinall, after his high activity in the UFC Octagon earlier in his promotional tenure. If Jones opts to retire, Aspinall would likely be promoted to the undisputed heavyweight champion, an option that UFC CEO Dana White hasn’t ruled out.
In the meantime, Aspinall continues to put in work in the gym as he preps for his Octagon return against Jones or another rival. But that hasn’t stopped Aspinall from taking shots at Jones when he can.
In a recent ‘word association’ game with TNT Sports, Aspinall needed two words to describe Jones.
“Strange guy,” Aspinall said.
Jones led an X-rated chant towards Aspinall at a recent Dirty Boxing Championship event. He became a co-owner under Mike Perry’s new promotion earlier this year.
Jon Jones’s former rival pleaded with him to ‘walk away’ from Tom Aspinall fight
White and the UFC matchmakers claim that the Jones vs. Aspinall fight is ‘done’, but they’re working out some of the details in terms of location, venue, and date for the matchup to come to fruition.
One of Jones’s former light heavyweight rivals pleaded with him to walk away from the Aspinall fight and retire undefeated. Vitor Belfort, who nearly defeated Jones earlier in their careers by submission, wants Jones to end his fighting career similarly to Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Jones teased retirement leading up to UFC 309 but pivoted on that stance in the immediate aftermath, hinting at upcoming ‘conversations’ with White regarding a new contract. It was initially rumored that Jones was looking for around $30 million to fight Aspinall, a claim that’s since been disproven.
As we continue to wait for clarity on the next heavyweight title fight, UFC titleholders Jones and Aspinall remain at odds.
Jon Jones❓
Word association with Tom Aspinall 👀 pic.twitter.com/ryDJvPMV7m
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) April 19, 2025
