The UFC heavyweight championship fight between champion Jon Jones and interim titleholder Tom Aspinall is going to happen. UFC President Dana White gave a “100% guarantee” it would be made during the post-event presser following UFC Tampa on Saturday night.
White was asked if he would make the fight and was willing to put a guarantee on it, and he obliged. Here is a look at the clip:
Jones has shown a reluctance to accept the fight with Aspinall in multiple interviews. The mind games have persisted for months, leading to Aspinall calling Jones a duck for avoiding him.
Jones has had fun with it, even changing his profile pic on social media to an image of a duck. However, according to White, Jones has never shown hesitation to accept a fight with Aspinall behind closed doors.
White insisted the reigning heavyweight champion and GOAT of the sport isn’t afraid to fight anyone. Jones is coming off a second-round destruction of Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November.
Aspinall was on hand to watch the fight in person at Madison Square Garden. In an exclusive interview with me, he shared some of what he saw in watching Jones in person.
Aspinall told me he left UFC 309 more confident that he would beat Jones when he got his opportunity to fight him for the championship.
Aspinall did give Jones a “9.5” grade for his performance against Miocic, but obviously believes the task will be much tougher against him. White didn’t give a timetable for the fight, but it feels like a card that could headline International Fight Week unless it is penciled in for UFC 313 on March 8.
Presumably, UFC 314 will land on April 12, UFC 315 on May 3, UFC 316 on May 31, with UFC 317 culminating IFW and potentially landing on June 28. Quite honestly, Jones-Aspinall could headline any of those shows.
However, it is unlikely Aspinall will want to sit for too long. Aspinall hasn’t fought since July. If he waits until June, he will have sat for nearly a year. We’ll see what happens as Jones is the man with leverage in the situation, but it would be a surprise if they fought as early as March.
Stay tuned.
Chael Sonnen Believes Belal Muhammad’s Injury is More Serious Than He Lets On
If UFC Hall-of-Famer Chael Sonnen is correct, another huge championship fight may be in jeopardy. Sonnen recently hinted he believes UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad may be out of action longer than it appears.
Sonnen talked about Muhammad in his breakdown of the aftermath of the clash between Shavkat Rakhmanov’s unanimous decision win over Ian Machado Garry at UFC 310.
“Ian Garry did what no other guy could do—over 70%,” Sonnen said in a video on his YouTube channel. “That’s very impressive, and I’m campaigning for Ian Garry. I believe the winner of this fight should face Belal [Muhammad]. And, sure, you can do the whole “Hey, Chael, Captain Obvious, that’s what he’s gonna do,” but that would mean you don’t understand that Belal has a life-threatening infection in his leg. Belal should not have been there tonight. Belal is too tough and too brave to tell you guys that, but that’s what he’s dealing with. He’s the hardest worker in the room, and he cannot even do 50 push-ups right now. So, for him to be there, to get in there and face off, I’m just sharing with you—that fight is likely going to be delayed, and we’ll see if it even happens.”
Sonnen finished his statement campaigning for Colby Covington to slide into a fight with Rakhmanov, but that part of his take proved incorrect. Joaquin Buckley trounced Covington, likely ending the latter’s title hopes for good.
As it is, Muhammad could be out longer than expected, which could force the UFC to scramble.
