'Let's not talk about Jon Jones anymore' - Tom Aspinall shuts down comparisons to Michael Chandler's wait for Conor McGregor

Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall (Photo via Getty Images) & Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
The long wait for
Jon Jones
and
Tom Aspinall's
heavyweight unification bout has led to the rise of several claims, speculation, and rumors, which also involve the current heavyweight champion's retirement plans.
The interim champion, too, believes that Bones is now retired, as expressed through his posts on X, which highlight the fighter's best life.
While such speculation amuses UFC fans and the community, the latest addition to this list is the comparison drawn between Aspinall and
Michael Chandler
, who waited for a long period to get a fight booked against
Conor McGregor
. The English fighter was quick to respond to this comparison in his recent interview.
Tom Aspinall reveals his future plans within the UFC, expresses his desire to fight the top contenders of the division
Michael Chandler took a two-year break after losing to Dustin Poirier in November 2022 before finally agreeing to fight the Irish fighter Conor McGregor at UFC 303 in June 2024. The bout was a supposed comeback for the Notorious as well after his loss to Poirier at UFC 264. McGregor even suffered a leg injury during the fight. After a long hiatus of almost 3 years, fans were excited for the Irish fighter's comeback. However, much to the fans' dismay, the bout got cancelled owing to a toe injury suffered by McGregor.
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Undo
Ever since, the fighter has shown no signs of stepping back into the ring.
Regardless of what went down in the lightweight division, the situation for Tom Aspinall and Jon Jones within the heavyweight division is quite different, as revealed by the interim champion in his recent interview with ESPN MMA.
'I've seen a lot of people comparing me to Michael Chandler. He waited a long time for Conor McGregor.' The fighter stated, 'I'm not waiting for one fight.
I'm not trying to fight one guy. I'm trying to fight ALL the guys.'
Aspinall has set his ambitions quite high and seems to have gotten over the no-response situation of Jon Jones, 'I'm trying to be THE guy at heavyweight who takes out everybody. It doesn't matter who it is, Ciryl Gane, Volkov rematch, Almeida, Derrick Lewis, Brock Lesnar. Whoever it is, I don't care. I wanna fight everybody, and I wanna fight as much as possible, get some excitement back in this division.'
'Let's not talk about Jon Jones anymore.' Owing to the retirement speculations of Bones, Aspinall further stated, 'I'm the active guy. I'm gonna fight somebody, and that's gonna be announced pretty soon.'
Also read:
UFC Fans get divided as new training video of middleweight fighter Khamzat Chimaev goes viral ahead of the title bout at UFC 319
The UFC has not yet announced the next course of action within the heavyweight division. Meanwhile, the petition to strip Jon Jones of his title has gained more and more momentum with each passing day. The petition is just a few signatures away from hitting the 200,000 milestone.

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