“It’s coming. Relax.” This is what UFC CEO Dana White said a few days ago on an Instagram Live video when a fan raised doubts about the Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall fight. Everyone knows it’s the heavyweight title fight to make, but the negotiations seem to be a bit tricky. One day things are looking up and the next they are dead in the water. Well, amid the uncertainties and complexities of UFC matchmaking, the champion, Jon Jones has simplified it all with just three words.
We all remember the happenings of the 2024 Arnold’s Sports Festival, right? That was the day when we saw Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall run into each other for the first time, in Birmingham. There was something very interesting that Aspinall recounted after their meeting. On ‘The MMA Hour’ in April 2024, Aspinall said, “I wanted to face off. Jon’s smart, you know? … Jon will not say anywhere — you can’t find it, it’s not out there — that he will fight me. He won’t say it anywhere publicly. He won’t say it. You can’t find a clip, a quote, nothing, anywhere, of Jon Jones saying, ‘One day I’m going to fight Tom Aspinall, and I’m going to freaking beat the brakes off him… That doesn’t exist. He doesn’t want any evidence, anywhere, of him agreeing to any kind of fight with me, because he doesn’t want to go back on that. He doesn’t want to do a face-off because that promotes a potential fight.”
Jones even brushed Aspinall’s hands off his shoulder when the Brit attempted for a friendly face-off – a photo for the fans maybe. And now, 11 months later, the heavyweight champion found his way back to Arnold’s Sports Festival. But as he left the premises of the event, he dropped 3 words on his Instagram post’s caption. He wrote, “I’ll be back.” A message for everyone, including Aspinall?
‘Bones’ took to Instagram and shared a video of his acts at the 2025 Arnold’s Sports Festival. Meeting with fans and celebrities, with speeches and dances in between, the visuals showed Jones had quite some fun at the event. He met fans and danced with people in Marvel’s Hulk costume. And that’s not the only thing that just happened.
There were talks of Jones training with potential future opponent and current light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira to prepare for Aspinall. That no longer seems like it will happen. The landscape seems to have shifted for ‘Poatan’ahead of his upcoming UFC 313 title defense against Mgomed Ankalaev.
The 205 lbs champion told ‘Bloody Elbow,’ “To be honest, I don’t think that makes as much sense anymore. Back when I said that I would like to fight at heavyweight, people already put the dots together and basically mentioned Jon Jones. That’s something that is speculated, even if it’s just by the fans… So I wouldn’t want to go and train with him now, and then if we end up fighting, people will start saying a bunch of stuff about whatever in the fight. I think it wouldn’t make sense now, but if we were to fight one day and then go train, I think it would make total sense.”
With the focus now diverted towards the matchup between Tom Aspinall vs. Jon Jones, let’s see where the fighters currently stand. Well, this time, the judgment came from someone who actually defeated Aspinall previously when they fought under the banner of BAMMA. It’s indeed Stuart Austin, who weighed in on the matchup between Jones and Aspinall. But who would win as per Austin?
Tom Aspinall’s former rival weighs in on his fight against Jon Jones
In a recent conversation with TalkSport, Austin pointed out that Aspinall’s wrestling was something that was yet to be tested in the Octagon. Back in 2015, Austin won against his fellow Englishman with his superior wrestling skills. But now, Aspinall has been working on those shortcomings and building himself up step-by-step. He said, “I think clinch and wrestling would probably be the way to go for Jon, because if he strikes with Aspinall, I think there’s only one person going to win that fight.”
While Jones could indeed test Aspinall’s ground game, there was a humongous problem in front of the heavyweight champion. Aspinall had speed, power, and accuracy that made him an even dangerous opponent to go up against. But can ‘Bones’ stay strong against that? Austin went on, “So maybe Jon could test the deep waters, try and take him a little bit further. But again, maybe you don’t have that as a choice. I’m sure everyone’s tried to take him a little bit further. He’s an amazing martial artist. You know, he really is the best heavyweight right now.”
Well, we do have to wait and watch till the fight actually happens before we can celebrate a victor. But one thing is for certain. We are en route for a breathtaking performance by both Aspinall and Jones, if the two clashed against each other at the International Fight Week, don’t you agree?
What do you think of Jones’ appearance at Arnold’s Sports Festival? Do you think it will affect his performance against Aspinall? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
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