At long last, we finally have clarification on the future of the UFC’s heavyweight division following a major announcement from Dana White.
At UFC Baku, White announced that Jon Jones has officially retired meaning that interim champion Tom Aspinall has been promoted to undisputed.
The two men that fight fans have been calling for a huge showdown between have reacted to the news with Jones posting a lengthy statement on social media.
At the same time, the new undisputed champion provided a short but sweet message with Aspinall looking to get the division active again now that he’s the one and only heavyweight champion.
When announcing the news at the post-fight press conference, White was asked whether he has any regrets as to how this long and drawn out situation unfolded.
Dana White admits that he regrets how Tom Aspinall has been treated during the wait for Jon Jones decision
The latest update from Dana White ahead of UFC Baku regarding the future of Jon Jones was that the promotion would look to bring him back but if they weren’t able to come to an agreement, they would quickly move on.
A report from Ariel Helwani confirmed White’s prior comments that Jones did accept the fight but he later walked back his decision.
Fight fans have become incredibly frustrated over the past few months with the lack of direction from the UFC, with people becoming tired of waiting for an announcement despite the fact that it seemed clear that Jones had no intentions of fighting.
During the post-fight press conference at UFC Baku, White said that he doesn’t regret how much time they gave Jones before coming to this decision.
The UFC CEO did state that if he has one regret about how everything played out, it’s that Tom Aspinall was forced to wait on the sidelines with the interim champion just wanting to stay active.
“Do I regret the time that I gave him? Listen, if you look at what he’s accomplished in the sport, no. No, is what it is. I obviously feel bad for Tom that he lost all that time and obviously money but we’ll make it up to him. Tom Aspinall’s a good guy.
“He’s been incredible through this whole process that we’ve gone through. He’s been willing to do anything. Fight him anywhere at anytime and do this and now he’s like, ‘I’ll fight anybody. You tell me who and I’ll fight them.’ So, Aspinall’s been great. He’s going to be a great heavyweight champion for us and I’m excited to work with him.”
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Tom Aspinall only has a small handful of potential opponents for his first defense as undisputed champion
With Dana White’s positive comments regarding Tom Aspinall and the Brit’s want to stay active, it doesn’t seem like fans will have to wait too long to see the heavyweight champion in action.
Three names stand out the most as potential title challengers in the division right now with Aspinall having only faced one of them in the past.
| Potential Challenger | Ranking | Record From Last 5 Fights |
| Ciryl Gane | #2 | 3-2 |
| Alexander Volkov | #3 | 4-1 |
| Jailton Almeida | #6 | 4-1 |
While Alexander Volkov may be coming off of a loss to Ciryl Gane, many believe that the Russian deserved to have his hand raised.
Jailton Almeida has also been calling for a title fight after putting together back-to-back wins to rebound from his first loss inside the Octagon.