Tom Aspinall is in New York this week for the UFC 309 title fight. He has plenty of reasons to be there.
Officially, the UFC tapped the interim champion as a backup fighter for the heavyweight title bout between champion Jon Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC), who hasn’t fought since he won the belt in March 2023, and former champ Stipe Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC), who hasn’t fought since he lost the title in March 2021.
But also officially, Aspinall said Friday on the UFC’s official broadcast stream for the event’s weigh-ins, the UFC not only denied his request to be part of the UFC 309 news conference with Jones and Miocic on Thursday, but also said he was banned from attending the event, even as a spectator.
He said he planned to ask Jones about ducking him, a story that has gained in traction this week after Jones said plenty to imply he’d never give Aspinall a fight – including one reason being that he is an “asshole.”
When asked if Jones was ducking him, definitively, on the UFC’s weigh-ins show, Aspinall left no doubt.
“Yes, I do (think he’s ducking me),” Aspinall said. “He is. He definitely is. I think that there’s just an easier path for him, and I understand it. I do understand it completely – I understand that there’s bigger fights out there for him for way less risk and way more money. I do understand it. But in all honesty, do I think he’s ducking me? Absolutely.”
Among things Jones has said this week about Aspinall deserving a shot at the undisputed heavyweight title after UFC 309 have included that the Brit is hot right now and trying to make his name off Jones – whose legacy, he contends, allows him to be choosy when it comes to likely the final few fights of his career.
Jones has said that with a win over Miocic on Saturday, he’d like to fight light heavyweight champion and former middleweight champion – and perspective and hopeful heavyweight champion – Alex Pereira because it would be a bigger legacy fight and bigger money-maker, and that carries more weight than giving a rising star a shot at his come-up.
When Jones was 6-1 in the UFC, 13 fights into his pro career, he got a shot at the light heavyweight title against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128 when he stepped in for an injured Rashad Evans. Despite the fact he had fought a litany of MMA legends prior to that, Rua still took the fight with Jones.
Aspinall is hunting for a unified title fight 18 bouts into his career, and at 8-1 in the UFC with eight finishes, seven post-fight bonuses, and his lone loss because he blew out his knee 15 seconds into the fight. Earlier this week, Jones admitted fans want to see him fight Aspinall because they expect it’s finally a bout that would be competitive for Jones – but that what fans want doesn’t make sense and they’re ignoring logic by wanting to see him fight Aspinall.
“He does nothing for me. If you’re a person that wants to see me really challenged, then I get it,” Jones said of anyone’s hope to see him fight Aspinall.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.