Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall is all but done — at least, according to Chael Sonnen.
According to Sonnen, the highly anticipated UFC heavyweight championship unification bout between Jones and Aspinall has been agreed in principle, and there’s even a date the promotion has in mind.
“I am confident enough to tell you that fight is done,” Sonnen said on Good Guy / Bad Guy with co-host Daniel Cormier. “That fight is agreed, all the way down to the date. That I do have the confidence to tell you. International Fight Week would make perfect sense, I, personally just in my heart, I always thought they were going to go back to New York.”
Jones captured the heavyweight championship with a quick submission win over Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in March 2023. “Bones” was sidelined for nearly two years with injuries, and went on to successfully defend the title at UFC 309 in November, dominating Stipe Miocic before finishing the former champ with relative ease.
While the build to Jones-Miocic was happening, Aspinall won the interim heavyweight title with a first-round knockout of Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 in November 2023. Aspinall even went on to have a rare interim title defense where, once again, made short work of his opponent. This time, it was Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 this past July.
Since Aspinall won the interim belt, fans have had their hearts set on a Jones vs. Aspinall showdown, and were ultimately disappointed when the UFC went ahead with the Miocic matchup for Jones. This has led to fans, and pundits alike, claiming that Jones is “ducking” Aspinall, or at least, taking a prize-fighter mentality. According to Sonnen, this has been a ploy from Jones all along.
“I’m telling you, this Jon Jones business, Jones will say a lot of things to the media,” Sonnen explained. “When he gets that phone call, ‘Here’s the guy you’re fighting. Do you understand? Yes,’ and that is what he will say.
“All of the other reports are not true. Jon has come out, he’s going to troll, he’s had some fun, he’s even tried to negotiate the media. Privately, he takes that phone call, it’s ‘Yes,’ or anything else that comes out of his mouth. Any answer that’s not yes is not yes, but that did not happen. That is a false report. Jon Jones has not ducked this fight. I wish he did. I’d love to bury him. he didn’t. He did not duck Tom Aspinall.”
