- Jones stopped Miocic in the third round of their bout at Madison Square Garden
- He has regularly insisted that he has no intention of to fighting Aspinall
- After his win, however, he took to the microphone to address the situation
Jon Jones appeared to address a potential fight with Tom Aspinall after knocking out Stipe Miocic at UFC 309.
Jones, the heavyweight champion, was heavy favourite to beat Miocic and did so by knocking out his rival in round three to retain his crowd – a win he celebrated with Donald Trump.
Fight week has been dominated by talk of Jones’ future, with the champion suggesting he would retire before facing Aspinall, who claimed the interim title while Jones was injured.
Aspinall has been in New York this week as the back-up fighter, and has been calling out Jones for an undisputed fight, which Jones has avoided encouraging up until this point.
He has slated questions and walked out of potential interviews in the build-up, but finally spoke on the potential bout that the fans want to see in the future if the fight can be made.
After knocking out Miocic in typically impressive style, Jones took to the microphone inside the ring to address his future, and seemed to hint that he may well one day fight Aspinall.
‘As far as my future in the octagon [is concerned],’ Jones began. ‘I decided that maybe I will not retire.
‘I have some conversations to have with Dana and Hunter, and we have some negotiating to do, and, if everything goes right, maybe we’ll give you guys what you want to see.’
The revelation was met by raucous cheers from the crowd, who had just seen Jones somewhat predictably knock out his rival in the main event of the card.
Jones in spectacular fashion, retained his UFC heavyweight title and potential greatest of all time status with a TKO win over Miocic inside the Garden at the event.
Miocic put on a better fight than most expected in the clash of titans, which main evented the card despite fans’ attentions being on a fight that is yet to – and may not ever – be made.
However, Jones landed a spinning back kick to Miocic’s rib cage at 4:29 in the third round that was the beginning of the end for former champion Miocic.
The most decorated UFC heavyweight folded from the body shot as Jones pounced on him near the fence. Referee Herb Dean then jumped in to separate the two, declaring Jones the winner and defending champion.
The result led to celebrations inside the octagon and in the crowd, with President Trump in the front row and celebrating with Jones, before the fighter made his way cage side and handed Trump his title.
In what was expected to be a week of celebration of Jones’ career, all the attention was on Aspinall – a man not even fighting at the event but present due to being the back-up fighter.
Jones has consistently called out other men, thought not Aspinall. He had called to fight Alex Pereira, threatening retirement if the fight wasn’t made, and said he has no interest in taking on the Brit.
‘There’s a part of me that does [want to compete with him], but if I’m being completely honest, I feel like Tom’s been such an a**hole that I don’t want to do business with him,’ Jones said in the build-up to Saturday night’s fight. ‘His fans have been so annoying.
‘Obviously, you don’t get this far getting affected by fans and whatnot, but he’s just an a**hole. He’s 30, so he’s from this influencer generation where you hop online, t-shirt sales, and all that. I’m past that type of stuff. If you had a little bit more respect, maybe we could’ve worked something out.
‘This is a business, and fighting me gives him an opportunity to change his life forever. I don’t even want to give him the opportunity, he just played his cards wrong with me.
‘I’m three years away from being a 40-year-old, grown man. The press conference, going through the whole shebang with him, I’d just rather not do.’
Dana White, UFC CEO, however, has said that Jones will fight Aspinall next if he wants to fight in the UFC again.
And it now seems that the fight could be one step closer, with Jones not addressing his rival directly but seeming to suggest the bout could happen to the fans.
