UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones remains unbothered by public opinion and fan requests for a unification bout with Tom Aspinall.
The undisputed champ has been out of the cage since his battle with Miocic, and many are beginning to wonder if he’ll ever return. After his victory over Miocic, Jones had plans to vacate the belt to face Alex Pereira, but the UFC confirmed that Jones would have to fight interim champion Tom Aspinall before his dream bout with Pereira.
Since this announcement, Jones has evaded the octagon and put the fight on hold while he tours the country. The wait has begun to feel stale for Aspinall, and he took to the MMA streets with a petition requesting that Jones be stripped of his title. Upon hearing this, Jones remained unbothered.
“Let’s keep this momentum going—make sure to sign that petition today, we’re pushing 200k!” Jones wrote. “How exciting.”
On Saturday, Jones dropped a message on Twitter celebrating the seminar he just held in Thailand, which he says was filled with people who actually flew over from the United Kingdom to meet him. He thanked Aspinall for all the attention he’s been giving lately with videos and online posts about the continued delays in booking a fight between them.
“Just wrapped up the biggest seminar in Phuket history,” Jones wrote on X. “Half the crowd flew in from the UK—how wild is that?! Massive shoutout to my guy Tom for all the free promo… couldn’t have done it without you.
“Seriously though, I’m beyond grateful for this brand-new UK following. You guys showed up with so much love and energy, and I felt every bit of it.”
The UFC remains steadfast that he’s going to return for a title unification bout against Aspinall, but fans do not believe this and have begun to wonder if the fighter has retired. Aspinall, on the other hand, continues to throw jabs at the fighter and recently released a post on X.
“My pleasure, Jon,” Aspinall wrote. “Told you I’m not an asshole. Glad you’re enjoying retirement.”
