Tom Aspinall had positive news for kickboxing legend Rico Verhoeven when asked about the fate of the UFC’s biggest fight in recent years.
Since becoming interim champion in November of 2023, Aspinall has been in hot pursuit of undisputed gold and specifically the titleholder Jon Jones. However, the fight has evaded him and he has even had to defend his belt against Curtis Blaydes.
Now, Aspinall seems to be veering towards thinking the bout will happen, even though Jones insists that he has told the UFC his plans going forward. It remains to be seen when or if the fight will happen, but the Brit’s tone is moving in the right direction.
Who is Tom Aspinall? Step inside the life of the Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion and Tyson Fury sparring partnerTom Aspinall tells Rico Verhoeven he believes Jon Jones fight will happenIn recent days, Tom Aspinall headed to the Netherlands to train with kickboxing legend and his long-time sparring partner Rico Verhoeven. The pair recorded some content out there, including a segment where the kickboxer asked straight up if he was going to fight Jones.
It’s a question that Aspinall is constantly asked by fans and media across the sport, but he seemed to go a slightly different direction, insisting that the cameraman was getting an ‘exclusive’. He then looked at Verhoeven and said in a defiant tone: “I think yeah, I think we’ll get him.”
He then explained the struggles he has faced in knowing how to approach his pursuit of the fight. “He’s an unpredictable guy,” he said of Jones. “Everybody’s got a different idea of what you should do.
“Some people are like ‘oh you should just leave him and he’ll fight you’. Then other people are like ‘the more you talk s— the less he wants to fight you’. I’m just like ‘what is this?’ We’re supposed to be professional fighters, we fight each other, that’s what we do. I thought that’s what we do anyway.”
Fans want Jon Jones stripped of title if he doesn’t fight Tom AspinallJones has yet to commit to fighting Aspinall, and lately has seemed to enjoy trolling fans who claim he is ‘ducking’ the interim champion. There has even been a change.org petition launched with tens of thousands signing up in just days to have the legend stripped of his belt.
Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLCJones hit back at the petition, commenting on Instagram that it is “The equivalent to pico grams [LAUGHS],”. And he appears to currently be focused on shooting a reality TV show which just saw Nate Diaz quit after a bitter brawl between teams.
In recent weeks, other champions such as Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev have had to give up their belts as they move through the weights. In order to keep their divisions going, they have had their belts taken, but Jones’ two-year logjam has yet to be called off.
