UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has been campaigning for a fight against the undisputed champion Jon Jones for a while now, but he thinks ‘Bones’ may end up having his eyes elsewhere.
This coming Saturday at UFC 304, Tom Aspinall will become one of the only fighters in UFC history to defend his interim title, as he takes on Curtis Blaydes in a highly anticipated rematch, two years in the making.
Despite being the interim champion, there is seemingly no sign of a title unification bout, as instead, the promotion is continuing with their plan of Jon Jones fighting Stipe Miocic, with Jones stating that fight will happen in November.
Tom Aspinall admits Jones is ‘way more likely’ to fight Alex Pereira after Miocic fight
If the 31-year-old Brit successfully exacts revenge over ‘Razor’ Blaydes, there is no reason why a unification bout shouldn’t happen, if ‘Bones’ beats Miocic.
Having said that, UFC light heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira, revealed recently that he is planning on moving up to the heavyweight division to try and make UFC history by becoming the first fighter to win a title in three separate weight classes.
Not only that but UFC CEO, Dana White, recently admitted that Jones vs Pereira is a ‘possibility’ because of demand from commentator, Joe Rogan.
Aspinall has questioned whether Jones vs Stipe will even happen at this point as there still hasn’t been an official announcement.
“I don’t think I’m gonna fight (Jones). I don’t think he’s gonna fight me. Is he even fighting Stipe because I know we’ve seen the rumors, where’s the signed contract, where’s the announcement, is that gonna happen?” Aspinall asked in an interview with Michael Bisping.
Bisping went on to predict that Jones would fight Alex Pereira after his fight against Stipe, to which Aspinall unfortunately agreed.
“Alex Pereira, yeah, (Jon Jones is a) smart guy. That’s way more likely than Jon Jones fighting me, way more likely. He’s gonna get more money fighting Alex Pereira than he is me first of all, and it’s an easier matchup.
“I’m not saying he doesn’t want to fight me, I’m saying that there’s more favorable matchups. If the shoe was on the other foot, I would do the same,” Aspinall stated.
Tom Aspinall is willing to defend his interim belt again if things go his way
As bizarre as it is in the first place for Aspinall to be defending his interim belt, he has revealed that if he does beat Blaydes this Saturday, then he wants to fight on the same card as Jones vs Stipe, and will defend his title again.
“Oh get me on that card, please. Absolutely (I’d want to be on that card). We’ll see, let’s see if they fight first, let’s see what happens with that because we don’t know,” the 31-year-old said.
Although it may not sit well with a large majority of the fanbase if Pereira does leapfrog Aspinall into an undisputed title shot, because of his star power, it could well happen, especially if Jones desires.
- WARNING: ‘Bad idea’… Curtis Blaydes sends warning message to Alex Pereira regarding planned heavyweight move