Interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall had a front-row seat to watch his next potential opponent Jon Jones’ triumphant return.
Tom Aspinall‘s eyes widened as Jon Jones finished Stipe Miocic with a spinning back kick to the body in the UFC 309 main event.
Jones’ first UFC heavyweight title defense couldn’t’ve gone much better against Miocic at UFC 309. After dominating Miocic with pace and pressure over the first two rounds, Jones secured the win by brutalizing Miocic’s mid-section with a spinning backkick that sent Madison Square Garden into a frenzy.
Aspinall, who weighed in as the UFC 309 backup, got a superb view of his next potential opponent at UFC 309. UFC CEO Dana White said after the event that Jones vs. Aspinall is ‘the fight to make’, as he potentially iterated to Aspinall in a backstage conversation.
Just seconds before Jones dealt the final blows to Miocic, Aspinall called for the lineal titleholder to throw more kicks at his opponent. While he likely didn’t hear Aspinall inside the Octagon, Jones obliged Aspinall’s request, utilizing body kicks to knock out Miocic.
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Tom Aspinall implored Jon Jones to throw more kicks just seconds before UFC 309 knockout
In his post-fight Octagon interview with Joe Rogan, Jones postponed retirement and expressed a desire for a lucrative paycheck to fight again. White and the UFC matchmakers will meet with Jones in the coming weeks to discuss the UFC heavyweight champion’s next move as they attempt to secure the Aspinall fight.
Aspinall won’t defend the interim heavyweight title again after knocking out Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304. He earned the interim heavyweight championship on short notice by finishing Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 last year.
Aspinall’s interim title win came to fruition after Jones withdrew from UFC 295 due to injury. He was originally supposed to headline the card against Miocic before suffering a torn pectoral tendon.
Jones won the then-vacant UFC heavyweight belt by submitting Ciryl Gane at UFC 285. The finish came after Jones took three years away from the Octagon.
Tom Aspinall vs. Jon Jones tops 2025’s UFC fight wish list
White has called Jones vs. Aspinall the biggest fight in UFC heavyweight history. In fairness, he said similar things about Jones vs. Francis Ngannou during Ngannou’s promotional stint, but the dream fight never came to pass.
Jones is arguably the greatest UFC fighter of all time after a legendary run inside the Octagon. Before making the full-time move to heavyweight in 2020, Jones made himself into a household name in multiple dominant light heavyweight title reigns.
Aspinall is in the middle of his physical prime and some believe is the toughest potential test for Jones in the Octagon. His lone UFC blemish came by injury stoppage against Blaydes in their first fight in 2022.
Aspinall’s live reaction shows he isn’t rattled by Jones’ power and aura. As 2025 approaches, fight fans could get their wish for one of the biggest fights in combat sports history.
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