UFC president, Dana White, has guaranteed fans that the much anticipated heavyweight fixture involving current champion, Jon Jones and interim champ, Tom Aspinall, will be brought to life. A lot of fans looked forward to Jones fighting Aspinall at UFC309, but instead, Jones defended his title against Stipe Miocic.
Even after the fight, Jones downplayed the possibility of facing Aspinall, almost promising it will never happen. But now, with White’s recent assurances, it seems fans will finally be getting what they want.
Speaking at the post-fight conference at UFC Tampa, White said the Jones vs. Aspinall fight will definitely happen and could be the biggest heavyweight fight in the history of the franchise: “Yeah, I’ll say 100 percent [guaranteed]. 100 percent [it’s a priority]. I think it’s probably the biggest fight in heavyweight history, and it’s massive in the history of the company, too. It’s a big fight.”
Left to Jones, he would rather fight Alex Pereira, the light heavyweight champion, next as he does not feel Aspinall has the past record to make him a worthy opponent. While Aspinall may not have spent so much time in the UFC, his prowess as a heavyweight fighter is not in doubt. He’s had 9 fights since joining the UFC and has won 8, with 6 of those fights ending in the first round. He may not, according to Jones, possess big fight experience, but he’s not a fighter one can easily dismiss. And Jones knows this.
White believes Jones is very much onboard with the idea, and has been so for a long while: “From day one, I’ve been confident that Jon Jones would do that fight. I mean even before the fight, I said if he won, there’s no way Jon doesn’t do this fight. Jon Jones isn’t afraid to fight anybody, and that’s a fact.”
The UFC boss has given his assurances that the fight will happen, but he has only his word to back things up. There were no details, such as a possible timeframe or location where the fight could take place. It could be next year or 2027, in any case. The absence of details in any form makes it seem like just another talk and something fans shouldn’t place a lot of hope in. But it is still something worth looking forward to.
