Interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall believes he’s next up Jon Jones after receiving a signal from the UFC brass.
After stopping Stipe Miocic with a vicious spinning back kick to the body in the main event of UFC 309, Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) hopped on the mic with Joe Rogan and revealed he plans to continue fighting, halting rumors of retirement.
Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC), who was tabbed as the backup option for the fight, watched Jones handle business from cageside, and also listened closely to Jones’ words on the mic. When he heard his name mentioned, Aspinall said he locked eyes with Dana White and Hunter Campbell.
“When Jon Jones was doing his speech, I was looking directly at the UFC brass, Dana and Hunter,” Aspinall said on the ESPN post-fight show. “Both of them turned to me at the same time and pointed at me and winked. At the same time. So to me, that says there’s something big in the pipeline.”
After being present all fight week, not knowing if his services as a backup fighter would be needed at the last moment, Aspinall leaves New York with more confidence that the next time he and Jones step into the octagon, it will be to unify the heavyweight title.
Combined with White’s insistence that the winner of the UFC 309 main event would face Aspinall next, the Englishman feels he’s in a good place to get the opportunity to prove he’s the best heavyweight in the world.
“This is massive,” Aspinall said. “This is potentially one of the biggest fights in MMA right now. If that doesn’t interest Jon Jones, then I don’t know what else we can do. Everybody knows that this is the fight to make. This is the fight the people want. This is the fight the UFC wants, this is the fight the fans want, and this is the fight that has to happen now.”