Tom Aspinall reveals latest on Jon Jones showdown as UFC title fight stalls

The British star is seemingly growing frustrated with having to wait for his heavyweight rival and has revealed an announcement on his next fight could be made soon
Tom Aspinall has revealed an announcement regarding his next fight will be made "soon" but insists heavyweight rival Jon Jones is "retired."
The interim heavyweight champion has not fought since a devastating knockout victory over Curtis Blaydes last July at UFC 304 in Manchester. Aspinall claimed the interim prize after a first round knockout win over Sergei Pavlovich back in November 2023 - a fight card that was expected to be headlined by Jones, before the American withdrew due to injury.
‌
Since picking up the undisputed title against Ciryl Gane two years ago, Jones has only defended the title once - a knockout victory over Stipe Miocic back in November. It seemed as if 'Bones' would call it a day after the clash in New York, but the 37-year-old teased at least one more fight in the cage.
‌
However, he has since failed to commit to a fight with his British rival. While Aspinall has grown frustrated with the lack of noise regarding news of his next fight, he claims a decision will be made soon. Speaking to All Out Fighting at the launch of Aspinall's long-term partnership with sportswear brand Champion, when asked if fans can expect fight news soon, the 32-year-old replied: "Yeah, we are. It is not my job to announce it but it should be announced soon as far as I am aware."
With fans continuing to call for an Aspinall vs Jones showdown, the former admits he has moved on and believes the American has called it a day. "He is retired! I don't know (why he does not want to fight), I think he is just done. I think he is done… everybody has a sell by date in this sport and I think he has reached his," he said.
Within the promotion, Aspinall holds the record for the shortest fight time of a fighter with five or more bouts. All of his victories have come within two rounds. An athlete who loves to compete regularly, it has been a tough year for the Brit, but insists he is just getting on with life as he awaits news of his next fight. "It's been difficult in terms of sport but in the grand scheme of life, it has not been that bad, it has been pretty awesome to be honest but I would life to fight more often than I have been fighting and that's nothing to do with me," he said.
"I can only fight when I'm given a fight and, so far up until recently, I have not been offered any fights so there is not a lot I really could have done, but that is all kind of in the past now and we can all move forward, so I am happy with that." Regarding his next opponent, the British brawler admits he won't be "picky" and will even consider rematches with former foes.
With Jones seemingly on his way out and Miocic retired, many are questioning whether the buzz around the UFC's heaviest division is still there, but Aspinall believes the division is exciting as ever. "Every fight is different, so even if I have beaten somebody before, it is still exciting for me to fight in. It's heavyweight MMA, so, even though it might seem a bit stagnant, as soon as the guys get active again, it will be good!"
In an ideal world, the British star is targeting two fights this year. However, one thing is certain, the 32-year-old just wants to stay active and is even open to TEN bouts this year. With the UFC having announced pay-per-view events for June, July and August and September, Aspinall seems unlikely to fight before October, but that still has not stopped him from wanting to remain active. "Being as active as possible really," he said when asked about his goals this year. "Two fights would be ideal. We might even push for three or four, to be honest. Might even get 10 in before the end of the year! I just want to be as active as possible."

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Daily Mirror

41 minutes ago

• Daily Mirror

Arne Slot breaks golden Jurgen Klopp transfer rule by doing something he avoided

It took Arne Slot just two summer transfer windows at Liverpool to blow predecessor Jurgen Klopp out of the water in regards to transfer spend following the acquisition of Florian Wirtz Liverpool manager Arne Slot is making up for lost time this summer after opening the transfer floodgates at Anfield. And it has taken the Dutchman just a few weeks to break the rule predecessor Jurgen Klopp sought to adhere to above all others in the market. Klopp, 58, previously made a point of stressing his morals when it came to keeping Liverpool financially solvent. And that meant not necessarily spending on a par with the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United, who copped criticism from the former Reds boss for their free-spending ways in the past. ‌ Of course that changed over time as Liverpool made allowances in opening their chequebook so Klopp could compete. But the German was staunchly against spending £100million fees on individuals when he first arrived at Anfield – a line Liverpool have now crossed with the blockbuster signing of Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen in a British record deal worth up to £116m, with £100m of that being guaranteed. ‌ "If you bring one player in for £100m or whatever and he gets injured then it all goes through the chimney," Klopp warned back in 2016 after United forked out £89m to re-sign Paul Pogba from Juventus. "The day that this is football, I'm not in a job any more, because the game is about playing together. "That is why somebody invented passes so these players can play together. It's not about running with the ball because you can do it all the time. Building the group is not my unique idea – it is necessary to be successful in football. "Other clubs can go out and spend more money and collect top players, yes. Do I have to do it differently to that? I don't know exactly how much money we could spend because nobody has told me up to this point, 'No, no, no you can't do this.' "If I spend money it is because I am trying to build a real team. You can win championships, you can win titles. But maybe there is a manner in which you want it. It is about how it is." The Merseysiders have added 22-year-old Wirtz to their armoury and could have to shell out as much as £116m if certain conditions are met. And that addition means Liverpool have now spent more money in this window than any other in their history to date. ‌ Slot recruited Jeremie Frimpong (also from Leverkusen) for £29.5m earlier in the summer, while goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili has joined from Valencia for an initial £25m, along with £4m in add-ons – with that deal agreed last summer counting towards their 2025 spending. Not only that, but a £40m move for Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez is also in the pipeline. Provided the Kerkez deal goes through as expected, that would take Liverpool's total spend this summer to roughly £215m (providing all bonus clauses are met). And despite the fact the transfer window has been open for less than one month, that would far eclipse the previous record for total spend in any other window. ‌ The closest Klopp came to matching that sum was in the summer of 2018 when he spent around £170m on new signings. That included Alisson from Roma (£65m), Naby Keita from RB Leipzig (£53m), Fabinho from Monaco (£39m) and Xherdan Shaqiri from Stoke (£13.5m), though the investments paid off as they won the Champions League that season. Eventually, Klopp wasn't too far from overseeing a couple of nine-digit deals himself, considering Liverpool signed Virgil van DIjk and Darwin Nunez for £75m and £85m, respectively. Van Dijk became the most expensive defender in football history at the time of his move from Southampton, and Klopp later walked back his comments concerning exorbitant transfer fees. ‌ "These kind of things happen. When you want to sign a striker as exciting as Darwin is, that's the market and you have to pay the price," he conceded in 2023. "I said so many things in my life and life caught me then later and showed me that my imagination was obviously not clear enough for how quickly life can change. That's how it is. "After that [comment about Pogba], we bought a centre-half for quite a decent fee [£75m for Van Dijk], we bought a goalie for quite a decent fee [Alisson]. Our situation is always the same, we try to level it somehow [with sales], the things we invest in the boys and in the players we sell, it's kind of that it's not going out of any kind of range and that worked so far, but I know, I heard it immediately." To Slot's credit, he won the Premier League in his debut campaign despite barely spending at all last summer. It's only fair that one, therefore, takes into account that spread of cost, which brings his net spend to a more modest £100m or so per summer window so far.

Scotsman

an hour ago

• Scotsman

Saturday at the Queen's Club Tennis Championship 2025: Prize money, order of play, TV schedule, when is Jack Draper semi final

Jack Draper is hoping to get to the final of Queen's today. | Getty Images It's semi finals day at the Queen's Club Championships. Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... One of the oldest tennis tournaments in the world, the Queen's Club Championships can trace its history back to 1881 - when it was called the London Athletic Club Open Tournament and was held at Stamford Bridge. It moved to its current location in 1890 and was known as the London Grass Court Championships before taking the name of its venue in 1977. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In 1973 the women's event was discontinued, but returned this year, where qualifier Tatjana Maria beat four top 15 players to unexpectedly take the title. It's now the turn of the men to take to the court, with world number two Carlos Alcaraz and British number one Jack Draper in the draw - and both through to the semi finals. And while Andy Murray, who won a record five singles titles between 2009 and 2016, is no longer playing, there was some Scottish interest, although Dalkeith-born Jacob Fearnley sadly went out in the quarter finals on Friday. He's still in the men's doubles though - with Jack Draper. Here's everything you need to know about today's action. How much does the winner of the Queen's Club Championship get? There is a total prize pot of €2,522,220 for the 2025 championship, allocated as follows: Men's Singles Winner: €471,755 Finalist: €253,790 Semi-finalist: €135,255 Quarter-finalist: €69,100 Round of 16: €36,885 Round of 32: €19,670 Doubles (per team) Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Winner: €154,930 Finalist: €82,620 Semi-finalist: €41,800 Quarter-finalist: €20,910 Round of 16: €10,820 Who is playing today at Queen's , Satuday, June 21? The sixth day of competition will see the men's singles and the men's doubles semi finals. Andy Murray Arena - play starts at 1am Jiri Lehecka (CZE) v Jack Draper (GBR) Julian Cash (GBR) / Lloyd Glasspool (GBR) v Harri Heliovaara (FIN) / Henry Patten (GBR) Court 1 - play starts at 12noon Nikola Mektic / Michael Venus v Jacob Fearnley / Cameron Norrie Court not assigned Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) vs Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) When is Jack Draper's Queen's Championship semi final? Jack Draper takes on Jiri Lehecka first on the Andy Murray Arena. The match will start at 1pm. Who are the seeds at the 2025 Queen's Club Championship? The eight seeds, who will be kept apart until the quarter finals, are as follows: Carlos Alcaraz Jack Draper Taylor Fritz Holger Rune Alex de Minaur Ben Shelton Frances Tiafoe Jakub Menšík Can I watch the 2025 Queen's Club Championships on television? All the action from the grass courts will be broadcast on the BBC, including BBC Two, BBC One, the BBC Sport website and the iPlayer. Here's when you can catch all the action: Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Saturday 21 June - 12pm: BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website/app, 1pm: Watch Queen's Tennis semi-finals on BBC Two Sunday 22 June - 12pm: BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website/app. 2.05pm: Watch Queen's Tennis final on BBC One Carlos Alcaraz is understandably a hot 8/11 favourite for the title, followed by Britain's Jack Draper (21/10).

Daily Record

an hour ago

• Daily Record

Surprise Scottie Scheffler reveal on PGA Tour rival he's looked up to from youth

World No.1 salutues the graft and skill of one of his closest challengers Impressed Scottie Scheffler has revealed he looked up to Justin Thomas as an ascending pro and revels in his rival's desire. The American duo are locked at the top of the Travelers Championship at the halfway stage alongside England's Tommy Fleetwood. ‌ Scheffler is currently the king of the game with his World No.1 status underlined by a string of stunning recent shows including a third Major win at the PGA Championship. ‌ Thomas missed the Quail Hollow and also at last week's US Open, but his desire to keep working and fighting have never been lost on his Ryder Cup colleague. Scheffler said: 'Justin is a guy that I looked up to from a young age. He was a really talented junior player, talented amateur player. He had a lot early success out here on Tour. 'Justin is an extremely hard worker. I think Justin is more of a practicer than I am. I like to play a lot when I practice. With Justin, he is very, very disciplined in the way he approaches things and that's why you've seen him have success for so many years out here. He sticks to his process. 'He doesn't let things kind of get to him and I think a lot of that goes back to how hard he prepares to come out here and play. He's very, I would say, professional in the way he approaches things.' Thomas' ability to shot-make were evident during his Friday 64 which took him to the summit of the standings along with Scheffler and Tommy Fleetwood. ‌ The two-times Masters champ was also in control and reckons robotic golf is off the menu when the going gets tough. Scheffler said: 'I would use robotic as maybe the word. It's not as robotic. I think when you're playing under no conditions or very light winds, I think you can hit a similar flight on every single shot and it would be fine. "On days like today [Friday] you have to work the ball both ways. You have to hit low shots, hit high shots. You're always playing a different type of shot, especially in conditions like this. 'You've just got to control the ball, so it's controlling spin and trajectory. A lot of times you're not hitting very many full shots because when you hit a full shot the ball will spin more and then you really have to get the wind perfect each time. "And if you're hitting a little bit more chippy shots and working the ball, you can kind of manage some of those gusts. I think having realistic expectations of what we need to do. You get a gust into the wind and all of a sudden the ball is not on the green. "So just little stuff like that. You can't get every one correct. You just do your best to manage your way around the golf course.'