Tom Aspinall has spoken out for the first time since Jon Jones called out Francis Ngannou.
The interim heavyweight titleholder had hoped to face ‘Bones’ for undisputed UFC gold in 2025.
However, Tom Aspinall recently claimed to have given up on that fight as Jon Jones is ‘retired’.
Since then, the greatest fighter in MMA history has explained why he has no interest in facing the heavy-handed Englishman, while also confirming he is still keen to compete by talking up a super fight with Francis Ngannou.
Dana White dismisses Jon Jones vs Francis Ngannou
Dana White was bombarded with questions about Jon Jones in the aftermath of UFC 316.
The MMA mogul dismissed the ‘stupid’ petition to strip his favorite fighter of his heavyweight belt.
Still, White has no interest in Jones vs Ngannou as he sees Aspinall as ‘the guy’ to beat right now.
“It’s Aspinall’s fight,” the UFC CEO replied when asked if there was anything either Ngannou or PFL could do to make the Jones fight happen. “I mean, we’ve been talking to this kid about it forever 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… I don’t have Ngannou under contract and Aspinall is the guy!”
Tom Aspinall reacts to Dana White’s support
Tom Aspinall recapped UFC 316 in a video posted to his YouTube channel on Sunday.
The 31-year-old was delighted to hear he’s got the backing of Dana White despite Jon Jones’ attempts to sidestep their fight.
“Dana White says I’m his man,” Aspinall said.
“We love that. I’m going to go and prove that pretty soon. It’s coming.”
Asked if he would be game to fight Ngannou, Aspinall responded by throwing a thinly veiled jab at Jones.
He added: “The day I start ducking out of fights and turning down opponents is the day I’m gonna retire.
“As I’ve always said, and you can ask any promoter I’ve ever worked with, any guys at the UFC, I’ll fight anyone, anytime, anywhere.
“Never turned down a fight in my life, never will. The day that I start thinking about turning down fights is the day I retire.
“So, to answer the question, whoever they want me to fight is who I’m going to fight.”