Tom Aspinall has 'no idea' who he will fight next: Jon Jones is 'playing games again'

Tom Aspinall still feels like the odd man out in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight division.

A UFC interim title just isn't the same as it used to be. That certainly applies to England's Aspinall. Unfortunately for the talented titleholder, his hopes of challenging for undisputed gold felt unrealistic after winning the crown Sergei Pavlovich by a 69-second knockout (see highlights) at UFC 295 last November 2023.

Current undisputed defending champion, Jon Jonesand Co. are still convinced that his first defense against the former two-time boss, Stipe Miocic, as soon as he is ready to return. In the meantime, Aspinall can expect to also defend his title against another heavyweight contender, which would ideally lead to a clash with the winner of Jones vs. Miocic. However, Jones expressed more interest in a potential fight with the light heavyweight champion. Alex Pereiraabout Aspinall last week.

“If we can ever get our old buddy Jon to sign a contract with my name on the other side of the contract, I'll be talking about him for hours on this show,” Aspinall told TNT Sports (h/t MMA Fighting). “Hours. But right now the guy is playing games again. He's trying to convince the public of what he wants and doesn't want. Which he's doing really, really well. Like I said, we can talk about Jon if and when he does “I'll ever sign a contract with my name on the other side. Because at the moment, let's be honest, it doesn't look very likely.”

UFC returns to Aspinall's home country of England for UFC 304 in Manchester on July 27, 2024. The event makes perfect sense for an Aspinall title fight, but the champion is yet to indicate when or who he will return against.

“The last thing I knew was that it was going to be announced this weekend [at UFC 301]and that’s obviously over,” Aspinall said when asked about UFC 304.

“Right now I have no idea what’s going on,” he continued. “I wish I could come on the show, I wish I could announce it on social media, I wish I could start drawing traffic that way, but right now I have no idea. I'm currently preparing for this date. As far as opponents and stuff like that, I don’t know what’s going on at the moment.”