Latest news with #TomAspinall
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Jon Jones makes shock admission about UFC future as he continues to stall on 'biggest heavyweight fight in UFC history' against Tom Aspinall
UFC star Jon Jones has admitted that he has no interest in fighting as he continues to stall on a bout with Tom Aspinall. The former UFC light heavyweight champion, who boasts a 28-1 career record, won the vacant heavyweight title in March 2023. But the 37-year-old has not fought since defending his heavyweight title in November against Stipe Miocic. The future of the heavyweight division remains uncertain as he continues to delay a fight with Aspinall. Aspinall has held the interim belt for 18 months but a unification fight between the two is yet to materialise. The delay has led a number of fighters to call for Jones to be stripped of his title. But the American brushed off criticism and revealed he is not currently interested in fighting. 'I don't want to say that I'm retired because fighting is in my blood,' he told the Full Send Podcast. 'Right now, I could really care less about fighting… 'When the itch comes back, if it comes back, then I'll do it with my whole heart. UFC chief Dana White previously said that Jones had agreed to fight Aspinall but they were awaiting paperwork. He now appears to have lost patience with the American and has set a deadline for the star to arrange the fight, which White described as the 'biggest heavyweight fight in UFC history'. 'If we can't get this fight done, we'll move on quickly. We'll have answers in the next couple weeks,' he said. Jones holds the record for the most wins in UFC, with 16 and is typically regarded as one of the best fighters ever. He has previously teased retirement, saying that Aspinall 'does nothing for his legacy'. Meanwhile, Aspinall has not fought since defending his interim belt against Curtis Blaydes last July. If a fight materialises, it will most likely take place in New York in November or Las Vegas in December. Other fighters have hit out at Jones' delaying, with Blaydes saying he should be stripped of his title. 'If he doesn't fight I would like him to be stripped. We all get it. He's the GOAT, he's great, but if you're not going to be active, what are you doing holding the belt?' said Blaydes. 'I get what he's doing. He enjoys this. He enjoys his name being talked about. I'm over it already.' Almost 200,000 fans have also signed a petition calling for him to lose his UFC heavyweight title.
BBC News
10 hours ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Heavyweights call for Jones to be stripped - what happens next?
With the future of the UFC heavyweight division continuing to remain unclear, a number of fighters have called for Jon Jones to be stripped of his Jones last fought in November, defending his belt against Stipe Miocic instead of facing Britain's interim champion Tom 32, has held the interim belt for 18 months and despite a number of pleas for a unification bout with Jones, the fight has yet to president Dana White says the promotion has been trying to finalise the contest, but Jones is yet to commit, teasing Aspinall on social media and hinting at his heavyweight bout in Baku, Azerbaijan this weekend, American Curtis Blaydes said the UFC should take the title off Jones."If he doesn't fight I would like him to be stripped. We all get it. He's the GOAT, he's great, but if you're not going to be active, what are you doing holding the belt?" said Blaydes."I get what he's doing. He enjoys this. He enjoys his name being talked about. I'm over it already."Blaydes' opponent Risvan Kuniev echoed his thoughts, calling for Jones to be stripped and describing Aspinall as the "true champion".With the UFC heavyweight division in still in limbo, BBC Sport looks at what could happen next. Jones v Aspinall actually happens This is the ideal scenario with White describing the potential matchup as the "biggest heavyweight fight in UFC history".Jones, 37, is a former light-heavyweight champion and widely considered one of, if not the best, MMA fighter of all has an overall record of 28 wins, one loss and one no-contest, and holds the record for most title fight wins in the UFC, with meanwhile, has finished all eight of his fights in the UFC and holds a number of records, including the shortest fight time average in the promotion's history, at two minutes and two UFC are trying to make the fight happen with New York in November and Las Vegas in December being the most likely options for the event to take wants the bout, but the sticking point is has been non-committal, suggesting he is retired, saying fighting Aspinall does "nothing for his legacy", and instead calling out former champion Francis the months tick by with no solution between the UFC, Jones and Aspinall, hopes of the bout taking place are dwindling. Aspinall is promoted to undisputed Should Jones be stripped or bring the curtain down on his distinguished career like he has been hinting, Aspinall would become the first Briton to unify the UFC heavyweight is 586 days since Aspinall beat Sergei Pavlovich with his interim title reign being the longest in UFC previous record was former interim bantamweight title holder Renan Barao, with the Brazilian holding the belt for 534 Aspinall has repeatedly called for the bout with Jones, he has added that he has no problem with the American - he just wants to become the undisputed this month White described Aspinall as "the man" and said the Briton's next fight will be for the undisputed if Jones retires or is stripped of his belt, who could be the other contenders? Gane, Volkov and Almeida could challenge Should Aspinall be promoted to undisputed heavyweight champion, France's Ciryl Gane is the most likely candidate to first challenge for the 35-year-old is a former interim champion and has twice missed out on the undisputed crown - to Ngannou in 2022 and Jones the following the defeat by Jones, Gane has won two fights and climbed to second in the UFC heavyweight has previously called for a fight with Gane, but the bout didn't contenders who could face Aspinall are Russia's Alexander Volkov and Brazil's Jailton Almeida, with the Briton recently saying on his YouTube he had been training with the potential of fighting 36, is third in the heavyweight rankings and lost to Aspinall in has won four of his last five fights but suffered a narrow defeat in December to 33, meanwhile, is sixth in the UFC rankings and is on a two-fight win streak.
The Sun
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Dana White loses patience with Jon Jones and teases imminent title stripping as Tom Aspinall UFC fight hangs in balance
DANA WHITE has seemingly set Jon Jones a deadline to make a decision on fighting Tom Aspinall. The UFC brass have been trying to finalise a showdown between their heavyweight king and his interim counterpart since last November. 4 4 4 White and Co. have even agreed to break their pay structure and give Jones " F**K YOU MONEY" for the mammoth unification bout. Jones, 37, agreed to the multi-million-pound purse on offer but has publicly toyed with the prospect of retirement. White is refusing to give up hope of finalising the bout but insists the UFC won't dance to the beat of Jones' drum much longer. During an appearance on The Jim Rome Show, the 55-year-old said: "We'll see how this thing plays out over the next couple of weeks. "If we can't get this fight done, we'll move on quickly. We'll have answers in the next couple weeks." White insists the delay in booking the biggest fight in the history of the UFC's heavyweight division isn't down to Jones being scared of Wigan warrior Aspinall. The UFC's CEO and President added: "Jon Jones has never, ever said, 'I'm afraid to fight this guy. "Or, 'I don't like this fight for me,' or any of that stuff. One time, his coach at the time, back in the day. JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS 4 "I don't know if he's still with him or whatever. I think it's the only fight we've ever cancelled. "I had to cancel a show because he wouldn't fight Chael Sonnen, because his coach thought it was a bad idea to take that fight on late notice. Jon Jones Blasts UFC Rival Tom Aspinall In X-Rated Rant "But it had nothing to do with Jon Jones. "Jon Jones has never turned down an opponent here or been afraid to fight anybody." White, for the last few months, has been bullish with his belief that Jones will sign on the dotted line and face Aspinall in a bout SunSport understands is still targeted for November. But it became apparent last week that his confidence in booking the dust-up has waned when he admitted: "You can't make people fight. "If Jon doesn't want to fight, you can't make him fight. "We can try to make him fight, we can throw things at him that inspire him to want to fight. But we'll figure it out. Former pound-for-pound king Jones hasn't set foot inside the octagon since defending his heavweight strap in a Madison Square Garden mauling of Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 last November. Aspinall, meanwhile, has been on the sidelines since defending his interim strap against Curtis Blaydes in just 60 seconds at UFC 304 last July.
USA Today
21 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC newcomer Rizvan Kuniev sees Tom Aspinall as the 'true' heavyweight champion
UFC newcomer Rizvan Kuniev sees Tom Aspinall as the 'true' heavyweight champion Despite being the interim champion, Rizvan Kuniev sees Tom Aspinall as No. 1 in the division and not Jon Jones. Historically speaking, interim champions don't get a ton of appreciation, and are seen as second-tier to the undisputed. Yet, Tom Aspinall is getting the respect from his fellow peers. Rizvan Kuniev, who's debuting for the promotion this Saturday at UFC on ABC 8, sees Aspinall as the "true champion" of the UFC heavyweight division, and not Jon Jones, who technically holds the undisputed belt. Kuniev (13-2-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) took things a step further and called for Jones to get stripped or to relinquish his belt, given his lack of activity, specifically not unifying the title against Aspinall. "I think it's time for Jon Jones to give up the belt, to relinquish the belt," Kuniev said through an interpreter at Wednesday's UFC on ABC 8 media day. "I think that the true champion is Tom Aspinall. I'm not sure why Jon Jones is holding up the division and why the UFC is letting him do this, why they're letting him keep the belt. "I think that Tom Aspinall being the true champion and not having fought for about six months already, this is way too long. The whole division is on hold. The whole division specifically, the top five, top 10, should have more fights, and there should be more movement, so we can figure out who is actually the top contender." Kuniev takes on veteran and former interim title challenger Curtis Blaydes (18-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) on the main card of UFC on ABC 8, which takes place at Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, Azerbaijan. It's a rare debut, as not many newcomers get a top contender right away for their first UFC bout. Yet, Kuniev feels more than ready and is out to prove he's an immediate threat to the title. "I was always saying that I was ready to fight someone in the top 10 top five," Kuniev said. "This is a big opportunity for me to fight somebody so multifaceted, so good, so high ranked. For me, this is a great opportunity to come out and show everything I said before and that I'm ready for the top 10, top five is actually true."
Forbes
a day ago
- Sport
- Forbes
Dana White: We'll Have Answers On Jones Vs. Aspinall In A Couple Weeks
It sounds as if UFC CEO Dana White might be growing tired of the waiting game when it comes to a title unification bout between UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones and interim champ Tom Aspinall. "We'll see how this thing plays out over the next couple of weeks," White recently told Jim Rome. 'If we can't get this fight done, we'll move on quickly. ... We'll have answers in the next couple weeks.' One thing that White has made clear throughout this lengthy process is that Jones is not one to 'run' from other fighters. The UFC boss reiterated that when speaking to Rome. "Jon Jones has never, ever said, 'I'm afraid to fight this guy,' or 'I don't like this fight for me,' or any of that stuff," White said. "One time, his coach at the time, back in the day – I don't know if he's still with him or whatever. I think it's the only fight we've ever canceled. I had to cancel a show because he wouldn't fight Chael Sonnen, because his coach thought it was a bad idea to take that fight on late notice, but it had nothing to do with Jon Jones. "Jon Jones has never turned down an opponent here or been afraid to fight anybody." Earlier this month, White said Jones had agreed to fight Aspinall. "It's definitely the process with Jon Jones," White said of the ongoing negotiations between the UFC and Jones at the UFC 316 post-fight press conference. "I've been going through this since the day he started this. It's definitely the process. Him and Anderson Silva, every time throughout the history of being in business with those guys when it comes time to get them fights, it's like dealing with artists. It's interesting. "It's Aspinall's fight. We've been talking to this kid forever about it and it's his fight. Listen, you can't make people fight. If Jon doesn't want to fight, you can't make him fight. We can try to make him fight. We can throw things at him that inspire him to want to fight but we'll figure it out." "But yes, Jon agreed to fight Tom, fact," White added in closing. Aspinall won the interim UFC heavyweight crown in November 2023 with a knockout victory over Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295. Aspinall took that fight on short notice when the original main event for that card, Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic for Jones's heavyweight title was scrapped following an injury to Jones. Despite Aspinall winning the interim crown, UFC CEO Dana White remained steadfast in saying that Jones vs. Miocic was the fight to make. That fight did not take place until November 2024. Jones held on to his belt that night, beating Miocic by TKO in the third round. By that time, Aspinall had already defended his interim crown, scoring a first-round knockout win over Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in July 2024. Aspinall has been waiting for the title unification bout with Jones since Jones's win over Miocic in November. In late April, Miocic became the longest-serving UFC interim champion, topping the 535-day reign of Renan Barao, who defended his interim title twice before being named undisputed champion. In early June, Aspinall seemed frustrated by how long it is taking to get a title unification bout booked, going so far as to declare that Jones has retired. "Jon Jones is retired," Aspinall said. "I want to say God bless him moving forward in what he does with his life and career. We move on. I'm the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. I'm ready to take on all comers and get this division moving again. "Those guys have been waiting around too long. The contenders are getting sick of it. Everybody's getting sick of it. Even the fans are getting sick of this stuff. So, Jon's retired and it's time that we move on. "I'm the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. I'm ready to take on all comers, get this division moving again. Us guys have been waiting around too long. The guys, contenders are getting sick of it, everybody's getting sick of it, even the fans are getting sick of it. Jon's retired and it's time that we move on.' We will have more on Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall as news becomes available.
