Aspinall doesn’t ‘trust’ Jones to fight him next

UFC interim heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall has one thing on his mind: becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion.

To do that he will likely have to face Jon Jones to unify the titles in a highly anticipated clash between arguably the greatest mixed martial artist of all time and the destructive force from England who hasn’t had an opponent last longer than seven minutes in the Octagon with him.

But while Aspinall is all-in on a potential fight with Jones, there is no guarantee if and when that fight will happen.

“It is the only fight to make,” Aspinall told ESPN on Tuesday while promoting his One Round in the Octagon campaign with Jose Cuervo. “I don’t want to wait. Now that Jones’ legends fight [with Stipe Miocic] is over and out of the way, it’s time to move on with the division. They told me it won’t be long and that’s very positive.”

Jones, 37, stopped former heavyweight champion Miocic at UFC 309 in November to retain the title. UFC CEO Dana White made it clear that Jones’ UFC career would only continue if he fought Aspinall next to unify the belts.

While the fight seems like the obvious one to make, Jones has been playing coy with his fighting future the past few months, teetering between retirement and pursuing a fight with current light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.

While Jones recently revealed he is negotiating with the UFC to return to the Octagon in 2025, he wouldn’t confirm his next fight would be against Aspinall.

Aspinall, 31, last fought in July when he successfully defended the interim title with a 60-second knockout win against Curtis Blaydes.

Given that Jones hasn’t fought more than once a year since 2019 — coupled with his desire to face Pereira — Aspinall doesn’t trust that Jones will agree to fight him next, regardless of what the UFC has communicated to him.

“No [I don’t trust Jones will fight me next]. Absolutely not,” Aspinall said. “I don’t know what Jon’s going to do. He’s a slippery character and I don’t think he knows a lot of the time. So no, I don’t trust him. But all I can do is worry about me. I already think I’m the best heavyweight in the world, but I want to unify the belts now. So, my focus is on that, not what somebody else is doing.”

When asked if he would be willing to wait a year to face Jones, Aspinall made it clear that it is less about fighting Jones and more about becoming the undisputed champion in his next fight. And if that means missing out on the opportunity to fight arguably the greatest of all time, and instead facing somebody else to become undisputed, so be it.

“I think waiting 12 months for the fight is pushing it little a bit,” Aspinall said. “Nothing really interests me right now other than being the undisputed heavyweight champion in the world. And that doesn’t have to be against Jon. If Jon wants to give up the belt and do other stuff, I am fine with that.

“This isn’t an attack against Jon personally. This is the fact that I am the best heavyweight in the world and I want the undisputed belt. That’s all. It has nothing to do with Jon. He’s not even someone that I am desperate to fight. I just want to fight for the undisputed title and it doesn’t matter who it is against.”