Following growing anticipation for a heavyweight unification bout, UFC interim champion Tom Aspinall released a new update.
UFC interim champion Tom Aspinall has been lying low, awaiting the return of heavyweight champ Jon Jones. The undisputed champ has stayed out of action since his win over Stipe Miocic. Many have begun to doubt whether Jones will ever make a comeback, and some UFC vets like Matt Brown have advised Aspinall to move on and take another fight. It seems the Brit took that advice, as he recently came on social media and set the MMA world buzzing with a fresh update.
On Monday, Aspinall posted on Instagram: “Heavyweight news. Coming soon!” The news quickly spread, with fans excited about a potential matchup between Aspinall and Jones. But Aspinall quickly shut down those speculations. In a follow-up post, he wrote, “UFC announce my fights guys, not me.”
He later joked, “Sorry, guys, I’m fighting for a new belt. Interim of the interim BMF UFC heavyweight title. Living my best life.”
The post served as a retort to Jon Jones’ response when asked if he would ever return for a unification bout. Although the two have yet to face each other in the octagon, that hasn’t stopped a rivalry from brewing, as both lay claim to the UFC’s heavyweight throne.
Despite pressure from fans for the fight, Jones seems unfazed and has spent the last six months touring the world. Fans, unimpressed by his behavior, launched a petition urging UFC CEO Dana White to strip Jones of his title.
The petition has surprisingly gained momentum, amassing over 82,000 verified signatures at the time of writing.
As of now, no one knows when—or if—Jones plans to compete again, or what the path forward looks like for Aspinall if Jones stays out of the equation.
