Interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is not thrilled about UFC CEO Dana White’s comments on Jon Jones.
CEO Dana White has been very open about praising heavyweight champion Jon Jones. He has acknowledged Jones as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, but Aspinall doesn’t take these positive comments lightly. The interim champion disagrees with Dana White and has said he can prove him wrong.
“The way I look at it, I’m the best heavyweight in the world,” Aspinall said on the “Believe You Me” podcast with Michael Bisping and Anthony Smith. “I’m not getting my credit for it. They’re holding the belt hostage, mate, and Jon Jones is loving it. He’s loving the fact that Dana is getting on every interview possible … you’re talking about bantamweights, and Dana White flips it and starts talking about how good Jon Jones is. I’m like, ‘Mate, if he’s that good, let’s fight.’
“I’m the No. 1 heavyweight right now. Let’s put it on the line, and let’s see who the man is – me or Jon. It’s as simple as that.”
Jones won the heavyweight championship in 2023 by defeating Francis Ngannou; however, he has yet to defend it. Jones was set to battle Stipe Miocic but had to withdraw from the fight after suffering an injury. Nevertheless, he has made a full recovery, and the bout has been scheduled for November. However, Aspinall is eager for a shot at the champion.
“Jon Jones, he was praying that I would lose that fight against Curtis Blaydes, praying that I would because there’s no way that you find publicly, nowhere, him saying that he would fight me,” Aspinall said. “It doesn’t exist. I challenge everyone watching this interview to find a statement, a quote, a video where Jon Jones is saying that he’ll fight me after he fights Stipe. It doesn’t exist. The guy is smart.
“We know he’s a bit overweight these days. The guy sat there with the Cheetos fingers or whatever, the Doritos fingers with his iPhone in his hand, waiting for me to get knocked out so he can start tweeting about it. Let’s be honest: Since I won that fight, he’s been completely silent and continues to go completely quiet about me because there’s no way on earth that he’s going to fight me. I’ll retire Jon Jones without even fighting him.”
