Despite being on a collision course in the heavyweight division, undisputed heavyweight champion Jon Jones has never met interim titleholder Tom Aspinall.
That changed this week when the two went face-to-face at the Arnold Sports Festival UK in Birmingham, England. In the video, which was shared on Aspinall’s YouTube channel, Aspinall approaches Jones and has a rather cordial conversation, though there was a brief moment of slight tension when ‘Bones’ removed Aspinall’s hand from his shoulder.
Tom Aspinall releases more footage of him approaching Jon Jones earlier today.
He claims he was checking Jon Jones reach when he put his hand on his shoulder.
The video also shows Jon Jones rejecting Tom Aspinall’s request to face off 😂
🎥 YT / Tom Aspinall @AspinallMMA #UFC… pic.twitter.com/XnN3AO21xj
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) March 16, 2024
After sizing up Jones, Aspinall later admitted on social media that he was rather unimpressed with the heavyweight champ’s overall size.
“He’s nowhere near as big as I thought,” said Aspinall. “I’ll take him. I think I’d beat him.”
Tom Aspinall discusses his first face off with Jon Jones 👀
🗣️ “He’s nowhere near as big as I thought.”
🗣️ “I’ll take him. I think I’d beat him.”
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) March 16, 2024
Will Tom Aspinall Continue to Wait for a Fight That May Never Happen?
After Jon Jones went down in October due to a pectoral tear, Aspinall was booked for a short-notice interim title tilt with Russian knockout artist Sergei Pavlovich in the UFC 295 co-main event. Aspinall scored a 69-second KO to win his first UFC title.
Unfortunately, Aspinall’s clash with ‘Bones’ is far from guaranteed after it was announced that the heavyweight superfight between Jones and former two-time titleholder Stipe Miocic would move forward, leaving Aspinall to sit on the sidelines and await the winner. Even then, nothing is promised as both Jones and Miocic have eluded to their eventual clash being the last of their respective careers.
It’s possible that Aspinall could take a fight with Curtis Blaydes who is coming off a huge win over Jailton Almeida at UFC 299, but the UK fan favorite would be taking a huge risk, putting his potential fight with Jon Jones at risk.
Watch the full video of Tom Aspinall interacting with Jon Jones below:
