Tom Aspinall isn’t sweating the Jon Jones fight.
It’s no secret that Aspinall has long been on the hunt for Jones with the hope that the two can meet in a bout to unify their UFC heavyweight titles. Aspinall—No. 1 in the division in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings—won an interim belt by defeating Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 when a bout between Jones and Stipe Miocic was postponed due to a Jones injury.
Jones won a vacant undisputed title (following the departure of champion Francis Ngannou) at UFC 285 and later defended it against Miocic at UFC 309, while Aspinall has also recorded one defense of his share of the heavyweight crown during that span. A three-time light heavyweight titleholder, Jones has frequently dismissed Aspinall as a worthy challenger.
This past Saturday in London, Aspinall and his team had a meeting with UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell, and he is experiencing renewed optimism after the discussions, though it’s unclear if that means the promotion is moving towards booking him against Jones or another matchup.
“We had a nice meal and we talked everything through,” Aspinall said on The Ariel Helwani Show. “Hunter has always been extremely personable and reasonable with me—I can’t say what he’s like with other people, I don’t know—but with me and my team he’s been nothing but hospitable and fantastic. We had a fantastic meeting, everything went amazing, I understand my position now, I understand what the company’s doing now, and you’ve got to stay tuned because there’s some big news coming.”
Asked if everything is moving in the right direction, Aspinall responded, “That’s fair to say.” He went on to add that he’s excited for what’s next and not concerned about the layoff he’s had since his most recent fight against Curtis Blaydes this past July.
“After the meeting, I’m feeling very optimistic about things,” Aspinall said. “I’m in a really, really, really good spot with everything and my future moving forward. It’s exciting times, it’s really exciting times.
“The break, it’s not a massive break, to be honest. People are saying, ‘Jon Jones is holding up your career’ and stuff. It’s only been seven months, it’s not too bad. I don’t want to say too much, but exciting stuff in the future, for sure.”
Though Aspinall was light on details as far as what was discussed with Campbell—and he didn’t specify their talks were necessarily about Jones—one thing he made clear is that one way or another, he wants to be recognized as the undisputed No. 1 heavyweight in the UFC.
“Of course, I want to fight,” Aspinall said. “But it’s got to be right and as I’ve said multiple times over, what I deserve is the undisputed heavyweight title. That’s very important to me. Money and everything aside, that’s really secondary. What I want is to be undisputed heavyweight champion and I’m working towards it.
“I’m not sat at home scratching my ass and watching TV all day, I am getting involved in the gym every day. … I’m in a good spot, I’m in a really, really good spot. I would rather fight sooner rather than later, but I’m also the type of guy that believes everything is happening for me. So I’m sure when the time comes it’s going to be the right time.”
He also confirmed he has no intention to defend the interim title again.
As for Jones publicly demanding “‘f*ck you’ money” to fight Aspinall, the British star takes no issue with that aspect of negotiations.
“I would also agree with the notion that he deserves every penny that he makes because he’s done everything that he can,” Aspinall said.
Aspinall was in attendance at UFC London and appeared to have a laugh at Jones’ expense when he was shown on camera with a toy duck, continuing the running gag that Jones has been “ducking” a fight with him. Sure enough, there was no mystery as to what the gesture meant.
“No, I just like ducks,” Aspinall said. “I’m always carrying around a little duck with me, just in case. No, of course, it was just a cheeky bit of fun, it was a little indirect, a bit of ‘bants,’ as we say. Just a bit of fun, that’s all.”
