Tom Aspinall fires not so subtle dig at Jon Jones after UFC legend retires and walks from multi-million-pound fight
BRIT Tom Aspinall has vowed to restore order to the UFC's heavyweight division after becoming undisputed champion without even throwing a punch.
The Wigan warrior, 32, was elevated from interim titleholder last Sunday after Jon Jones walked away from their multi-million-pound unification bout at Madison Square Garden in November.
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MMA legend Jones, 37, has retired from the sport after holding the division hostage for nearly two years and Aspinall has vowed to get it moving again as quickly as possible.
He said: "I am going to keep this thing as active as possible.
"I want to be the best heavyweight to ever walk the face of the Earth.
"I'm gonna defend this thing as many times as I possibly can and I'm gonna keep you guys entertained.
"I'm going to give back to everybody who has shown me support over the last year, over the last five years and over the last ten years.
"We're gonna see an active defending UFC heavyweight undisputed champion going forward."
Controversial American Jones, who was last week charged with fleeing the scene of an accident, retires as the youngest champion in UFC history and the greatest fighter in the history of the sport.
But Aspinall insists his legacy won't in any way be tarnished by his 'dream' fight with the former pound-for-pound king falling through.
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He told SunSport: "Ultimately, I want to be the heavyweight champion of the world. It doesn't really matter about Jon Jones.
"It'd be nice, it'd be a lovely cherry on the cake to have the scalp and get that experience. I'm a massive Jon Jones fan, first and foremost.
Dana White confirms Jon Jones has retired from UFC with Tom Aspinall the new heavyweight champion
"It would just be awesome to experience that with Jon. But as Jon said, Jon said, 'Don't let me hold you back.'
'And when he said that, he came out and said that in an interview, I thought, 'You know what, he's right.' I'm not letting Jon hold me back."
Jones' retirement was followed by news that he was charged with FLEEING THE SCENE OF AN ACCIDENT, which caused no great bodily harm or death, on June 17.
A police report from the accident, which took place in New Mexico on February 27, states that a woman was found in the front passenger seat of one of the cars involved in the incident.
The woman, who according to the report was 'exhibiting signs of significant intoxication and lacking clothing from the waist down" claims that Jones was driver of the car and fled the crash on foot.
She admitted to taking mushrooms and drinking alcohol at the residence of Jones, who, when interviewed by police a few days later, claimed that she drove away from his house by herself while intoxicated.
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