Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall: Where things stand, why UFC heavyweight title unification isn’t official

It feels as though the UFC has struggled to create big fights in recent years. The spotlight has become increasingly bright on this situation and how it applies to heavyweight champion Jon Jones and interim champ Tom Aspinall.

Despite being the best fight in the division, and a clash that would draw significant interest compared to most pay-per-view headliners, the UFC has not been able to lock in a unification bout between Jones and Aspinall, who has held the interim title since November 2024.

On Monday, Jones posted about spending time in Thailand and “stuffing my face every day and I swear I’m losing weight somehow.” Frustrated fans responded to the post, asking if Jones was enjoying a vacation before being stripped of his championship.

“Stripped?” Jones responded. “Lol do I come across as the type of person who cares about things like that?” Jones would respond to another fan, saying, “I told the UFC my plans a long time ago. I have no clue why they haven’t shared them with you guys yet.”

In typically whiplash fashion, by Tuesday, Jones was posting cryptic messages on social media alluding to how easily he would defeat Aspinall.

Why hasn’t Jones vs. Aspinall been scheduled?

After Jones, who dominated the light heavyweight division for more than a decade, defeated Ciryl Gane in March 2023 to capture the then-vacant heavyweight title, he was booked into a fight with Stipe Miocic the following November. After a Jones injury resulted in the fight being postponed, fans began to turn their attention to a fight between Jones and Aspinall rather than Jones facing the older and past-his-prime Miocic.

Jones blew off those calls to face Aspinall, instead continuing ahead with the plan to fight Miocic. He also began to talk up a potential fight with Alex Pereira, the popular fighter who held the light heavyweight title at the time, as the next step after Miocic.

“I get that Tom is an exciting fighter and I get that, finally, after 16 years we have found somebody who is seven years younger than me and 30 pounds bigger than me,” Jones said. “We finally found someone who may give me a great challenge and everyone wants to see it so bad. But for me, it’s like, what is in it for me?

“Fight the nobody [Aspinall] that may be more dangerous or fight the guy [Pereira] with all of the accolades who is incredibly dangerous but it will actually affect your legacy. Me beating Cyril Gane didn’t do anything for me, it just gave me a few more millions. It would be the same for Tom Aspinall. When you look back and it’s, ‘Jon just beat Alex Pereira,’ it would be bigger, it would just be bigger and anybody who can’t understand that logic simply doesn’t want to.”

Jones’ excuses for not taking the fight have ranged from focusing on size disadvantages, despite holding the title in the largest UFC weight division, to a lack of “legacy building” potential, to the promotion needing to provide a massive payday.

Will Jones vs. Aspinall happen?

As recently as March, Aspinall was stating that he was optimistic that a fight with Jones would get done. That optimism was buoyed by a meeting with UFC officials.

“We had a fantastic meeting, everything went amazing,” Aspinall said at the time. “I understand my position now, I understand what the company’s doing now, and you’ve got to stay tuned because there’s some big news coming.

“After the meeting, I’m feeling very optimistic about things. I’m in a really, really, really good spot with everything and my future moving forward. It’s exciting times, it’s really exciting times.”

Aspinall is one of the few fighters to have defended a UFC interim title, as the prize is usually a placeholder given in the absence of an injured or otherwise unavailable champion with a unification bout following in short order. As the Jones fight has not materialized, Aspinall is now the longest-reigning interim champion in UFC history.

Aspinall holds an 8-1 UFC record, with the lone loss coming against Curtis Blaydes when Aspinall suffered a knee injury just 15 seconds into the fight. The pair rematched in Aspinall’s first interim title defense, with Aspinall scoring a knockout 60 seconds into the fight. Only one of Aspinall’s uFC bouts has made it to the end of the first round.

Despite the demand for the fight and Aspinall’s interest and accomplishments, everything ultimately comes down to Jones and whether he is willing to sign the contract. This is a fact of which Aspinall is keenly aware.

“Me, personally, I can’t do anything,” Aspinall said last week on the High Performance Podcast. “I just think it’s down to money on his side. I will fight whenever, wherever he wants – but it’s down to money, I think. … I’m well bored of [the Jones conversation]. I’ve had enough. We either need to fight, or I need to move on to something else.”