Tom Aspinall: Jon Jones 'holding up' UFC heavyweight title unification bout
Yesterday at 05:44 AM
Interim heavyweight tiiteholder Tom Aspinall has been angling for title unification bout against champion Jon Jones since being crowned the interim champ in November 2023. At this point, Aspinall is tired of talking about Jon Jones.
"I'm getting the question asked a lot, what's going on with my next fight everywhere I go. We're talking about in the comments, online, in the street, on YouTube, everywhere I go people are asking me about this God damn Jon Jones fight," Aspinall said on his YouTube channel. "I'm sick of talking about it. I'm sick of repeating myself."
A heavyweight title unification bout between Jones and Aspinall is one of the biggest matches the fight promotion can make. Aspinall believes it solidly in the top three.
"This is one of the biggest fights that could be made in MMA right now," Aspinall said. "You've got DDP (Dricus Du Plessis) and Khamzat [Chimaev]. That's a massive fight. We've got Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev, another massive fight. The other huge fight is me and Jon Jones."
Tom Aspinall: 'Jon Jones is holding up title unification bout'
Aspinall accused Jones's side of fight negotiations of holding up the fight coming to fruition.
"I've been staying away from the media talking about Jon Jones a lot because, in all honesty, I'm sick of talking about it myself," Aspinall said. "Where we're at right now is, I've have spoke to the UFC multiple occasions about this fight. I'm chasing up. I want the fight. I've been on record and said I want the fight. I've been on the phone with the UFC saying, 'I want the fight, when's it happening?' I want the fight more than anyone.
"What is holding it up right now is his side. That's the truth of it," Aspinall continued. "The UFC really, really wants the fight to happen. They've told me that. As I've said, this is one of the biggest fights that could be made in MMA right now. Everybody knows that. It's just does he want to put himself in a position where he's comfortable financially to take the risk that he's taking to fight me. And that is where we're at."
The fight promotion informed Aspinall that they're doing everything they can to book a fight with Jones. The ball is on Jones' court.
"The UFC, they assure me that they're desperately want to make the fight, every time I speak to them they say we are working as hard as we can for the fight. I'm literally just waiting for a date.
