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Jon Jones has simultaneously given Tom Aspinall good and bad news ahead of UFC 309, where “Bones” will defend the heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic.
Jones, a former two-time light-heavyweight champion, won the vacant heavyweight belt in March 2023 and was due to defend it against Miocic last November. But a torn pectoral muscle forced Jones out of that bout, delaying it by a year.
Then, Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich stepped up to fight for the interim title, which the Briton won with a first-round knockout. And in a rare move in the UFC, Aspinall later defended the interim gold, retaining it with another rapid KO this July – against Curtis Blaydes.
Aspinall should therefore be in line for the winner of Jones vs Miocic, which takes place on Saturday (16 November). However, former champion Miocic, 42, is expected to retire after UFC 309. Meanwhile, Jones, 37, has hinted that he will retire or face light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.
And while doubling down on that notion this week, Jones admitted he could relinquish the heavyweight title in order to fight Pereira. So, the bad news for Aspinall is that his dream fight with Jones looks almost certain to fade away; the good news is that the Briton could be the undisputed champion in a matter of days.
“It’d be cool to fight [Pereira] over the heavyweight championship, but I would also willingly give up the heavyweight championship,” Jones told SportsNet on Monday.
“I walked away from the light heavyweight championship, and I’d love to walk away from this one as well on top, on [my] own terms, good head on your shoulders, making lots of money. I love the position that I’m in right now.
“Fighting Pereira for the ‘BMF’ [baddest motherf*****] belt, that would be cool. We both have two belts in two weight classes, and the night we fought, we’d both be fighting for our third belt – which would be the ‘BMF.’ How cool would that be?”
Pereira held the middleweight title before winning the light-heavyweight belt. Fans would likely support the Brazilian’s role in a BMF fight, given his frequent activity and knockout ability. Meanwhile, fans have already suggested that Jones should be ineligible for a BMF fight, given his provisional decision to avoid fighting Aspinall.
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Aspinall, 31, is 8-1 in the UFC since making his promotional debut in 2020. All of those wins came via stoppage (six KOs, two submissions), with seven earned in the first round and the other coming in the second round.
Aspinall’s sole UFC loss came in 2022, when he suffered a knee injury just 15 seconds into his first fight with Blaydes, but he avenged that defeat with his KO of the American this July.
