UFC Heavyweight champion, Jon Jones succeeded in his first heavyweight title defence last weekend against Stipe Miocic following a spinning back kick to finish his dominant performance in the 3rd round. Following his victory, Jones stated “As far as my future in The Octagon, I decided that maybe I will not retire”, leaving fans wondering what challenge is next for the 37 year old. Despite many fans believing Tom Aspinall remains the obvious contender to face Jon Jones next, a super fight with Alex Pereira has also been discussed.
Will we get Tom Aspinall V Jon Jones?
Since Tom Aspinall impressively knocked out Sergei Pavlovich in 2023 to become the interim heavyweight champion; the world has been asking the same question, can he beat Jon Jones? In the lead up to UFC 309, there was a lot of pessimism surrounding the likelihood of Jon Jones facing Tom Aspinall. It is customary for the undisputed UFC champion of a weight class to face the interim champion, in order to ensure that there is clarity over who is the best represented by one individual holding the belt. However, Jon Jones has been reluctant to unify the belts at heavyweight believing that risking his legacy against a ‘dangerous up and comer’ at this stage of his career would be unrewarding, feeling that he has succeeded in these situations more than enough times. He has also claimed that he has little interest in working with Aspinall calling the Englishman an “A******” indicating that he did not even want to entertain the thought of fighting him. This came after Tom Aspinall had taunted Jon, referring to him as a ‘duck’ who is ‘scared’ of a potential matchup which clearly had upset Jones who felt massively disrespected.
“The winner should absolutely fight Tom”
– Dana White in UFC 309 pre-fight press conference
Although now there is much more optimism, with Jones not only committing to continue his career in Mixed Martial Arts but also his claim that perhaps he will ‘give the fans what they want’. The fight has also been heavily backed by Dana White who declared that Jones V Aspinall could be ‘the biggest heavyweight fight ever’ and ‘the biggest fight we’ve ever done’. Martial Arts enjoyers can certainly be encouraged by the fact that Dana White reflects their excitement over the prospect of this fight which will likely translate into huge efforts being made by the UFC to get the fight done. Tom Aspinall claims when Jones was doing his post fight press conference “Dana and Hunter pointed at [him] and winked”, a hint perhaps to Tom and the fans of something big being in the pipeline.
“Plans in place, See you soon”
– Tom Aspinall on Instagram
It is clear that there is still a lot of work for the UFC to convince Jones to step in The Octagon with Tom Aspinall. The veteran martial artist has made it clear that he has no issue never returning to The Octagon if the UFC are unable to offer him a convincing offer, saying that it will take “F*** you money” for him to give Aspinall the opportunity to unify the belts. Negotiations are expected to get underway imminently with Dana White determined to effectively ‘compensate’ Jon Jones to make the fight happen.
Other potential match-ups?
The other major names linked with a potential fight with Jon Jones has been Light heavyweight star, Alex Pereira. Jones has branded the fight as a ‘legacy fight’ saying at this stage of his career it would further his career portfolio compared to a bout with Aspinall. Jones is even open to the idea of vacating his Heavyweight title, to facilitate a super fight for the BMF belt against Alex Pereira. Upon this suggestion, Pereira responded with an Instagram post “Chama my brother, let’s make them wait”. However, Dana White struggles to see the benefit of the matchup, believing that the size difference and wrestling ability of Jones would easily overwhelm Pereira. Along with Alex, Jon Jones has named candidates such as Jamahal Hill and Derrick Lewis as supposed ‘legacy fights’ that would tempt a return to The Octagon
“Fighting Pereira for the BMF belt, that’d be cool”
– Jon Jones on a potential fight against Alex Pereira
Whatever happens, the MMA fanbase would certainly welcome the return of Jon Jones in The Octagon, with many believing he has much more to achieve before retirement.