Tom Aspinall didn’t only put a lot of thought into a potential fight against Jon Jones, but he put a lot of time and resources into the potential clash.
At the beginning of the year, a UFC heavyweight title unification fight between Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall seemed almost guaranteed considering the interim title meaning.
Despite that, the saga that lasted for months ended when Jones announced his retirement from the sport, which subsequently upgraded Aspinall to the undisputed champion.
However, things have since become murky again after Jones revealed his plan to return after finding out about the UFC White House event scheduled for 2026.
Aspinall reveals he completed several fight camps for Jones fight
With Jones being widely regarded as the greatest fighter of all time, preparing to take him on is likely one of the most difficult aspects of fighting him.
And with that, the British champion has revealed that when Jones was still reigning as the champion, he completed ‘three or four’ fight camps after being told the fight was on and scheduled by the UFC.
“I mean, that isn’t entirely accurate (that I haven’t had a date and an opponent to work towards). Now this is an exclusive coming live on TNT Sports but, there were a lot of times when the UFC would tell me, ‘Right, the Jon Jones fight is happening in three months’ for example,” Aspinall told TNT Sports.
“So we’d start the training camp, the intensity would up and then the date would get moved. That happened like three or four times and then eventually he retired. So it wasn’t like I was literally sat waiting for the full year, I did think the fight was going to come.
“Everyone was saying ‘Why are you waiting?’ I wasn’t waiting, I was getting told that the fight was happening so there was nothing I could really do, my hands were completely tied by the UFC,” Aspinall continued.
Could the Aspinall vs Jones fight still happen?
At this point, with Jones hoping to return to the Octagon for the White House event in 2026, despite being told by Dana White that he won’t be on the card, the fight seemingly still has life.
If Aspinall successfully defends his title against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321, he will have all the power and will likely have the deciding vote on whether he does give ‘Bones’ the chance.
However, the Brit has admitted that he is not interested in fighting on the White House event, potentially crushing Jones’ dream return.