Jon Jones is ready to fight Stipe Miocic at UFC 309, but what about Tom Aspinall and Jones for the title unification? This is a question that is eating at many fans and veteran’s minds and it looks like Islam Makhachev’s manager has had enough.

Ali Abdelaziz decided to give his verdict on X and explain how champions are refusing to face the best contenders for a title defense. He wrote on X saying, “I think if you are the UFC Champion and you are refusing your fight any Contender then UFC should have the right to implement an Interim Title immediately because right now a lot of Champions are ducking the clear number one Contenders.”

There have been many examples of champs ducking fights with the best prospects of title challengers and one of them is Jon Jones who does not want to fight Aspinall. On the other hand, there is also the case of Merab Dvalishvili who was adamant about not fighting against Umar Nurmagomedov in January and shifted his plans to March which is the holy month of Ramadan, and thus, Umar cannot fight against the bantamweight champ.

Umar is not the only client of Abdelaziz’s who is facing this issue. Magomed Ankalaev, the undeniable #1 contender at 205 lbs., is yet to get a shot at Alex Pereira. #8 ranked Khalil Rountree Jr. got a shot at UFC 307 before Ankalev, while the latter had to fight Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308. Now, there is talk of Ankalaev fighting in December after Belal Muhammad had to pull out of UFC 310. Pereira’s team had said they would likely not be available at the time after three fights already done this year. So, Abdelaziz’s tweet may not have been directly aimed at Jones, but on some level, it applies to him too.

When it comes to ‘Bones’ even fans have questioned him about the potential matchup with Aspinall. Jones was originally scheduled to fight Miocic at UFC 295 but was sidelined due to a pectoral injury. Meanwhile, Aspinall kept rising and won the interim belt against Sergei Pavlovich. Since then ‘Honey Badger’ has been desperate for a title unification with Jones but the latter keeps turning him down.

Even Alexander Volkanovski commented on how Jones needs to face Aspinall to be recognized as a true heavyweight champ. He said, ‘“It’s going to be hard to convince me you’re defending champ if you don’t fight Tom Aspinall, while he’s the interim champ. Does Jon Jones even need to do this now? He’s already got an incredible legacy. But if you want to claim the heavyweight division, say, you’re you know, you are a proper double champ. I think he [Aspinall] is the biggest threat.” He also mentioned that Jones might be aiming for Alex Pereira which is not quite far from the bullseye.

Jon Jones prefers Alex Pereira over Tom Aspinall

Pereira is already on Jones’ radar after UFC 309 and the 37-year-old has hinted that he wants to fight the Brazilian. Even though his initial goals included hanging up his gloves after the bout with Miocic, Jones is changing plans slowly. He uploaded a video on Instagram where he was going through training and conditioning.  However, the fans used it as an opportunity to nag Jones for one more fight.

Meanwhile, Jones commented for the fans and said “@migueljitsu now we’re talking, that guy is a legit star.” He even spoke to the New York Post and said, “Pereira, though, that’s somebody that interests me. This guy is a champion killer, like myself. That type of stuff entices me. We’re both 37; we both pretty much weigh the same right now.” However, this generational war is tantalizing but seems too far away at the moment. 

Right now Jones is more concentrated on Miocic and completely avoiding Aspinall who is going to be the backup for their fight at UFC 309. The 37-year-old will need to be his best as he fights this time with the UFC’s resident firefighter. What do you think the outcome will be? Share your predictions below.