The drama in the heavyweight division continues into the holiday season with the mystery of whether Jon Jones will fight Tom Aspinall or not. At this point, we just have speculation to rely on, and speculations point in the direction of that fight happening. Two instances – one, White himself declared that the winner of the UFC 309 headliner would face Jones, and two, the conversation Tom Aspinall had with the UFC head honcho and company CBO Hunter Campbell.

Furthermore, Jon Jones hinted at his willingness to fight the English interim champion if the price is right, i.e., ‘f**k you money’ in Jones’ words. Of course, fans are worried since Jones had payment issues with the UFC when the promotion wanted him to face former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. All this puts Dana White in a tight spot, as he’s already being accused by fight fans of favoring Jones. However, Dan Hardy believes there is one situation where even White wouldn’t consider his greatest champion.

Dan Hardy gave the final verdict on who Dana White would protect

In a recent episode of Submission Radio, Dan Hardy spoke about how he’s starting to look at things in the UFC from the perspective of a promoter, after having been a fighter and an analysis of the promotion. According to the Englishman, if Dana White had to choose between his company’s integrity and meeting Jon Jones’ demands, he will always choose the UFC – “It doesn’t matter who it is, [the UFC] brand comes first, right? Protect the promotion, protect the system that’s in place at all costs. Like, if you cave for one of those people, whether it’s Ngannou or Jon Jones, or Conor McGregor or Brock Lesner, whoever it is – if you cave for one of those superstars, a new precedent has been set.”

Hardy then used Francis Ngannou as an example to explain how the UFC wouldn’t cave into his demands of higher pay, despite the Cameroonian champion’s dominance. The former UFC welterweight then recalled Dana White’s comments at the UFC 309 press conference, “I think Dana’s comment at the press conference was quite telling about the situation, you know? If Jon Jones wants to fight again [in the UFC], he will [have to] fight Tom Aspinall.”

It remains to be seen whether the UFC either forces Jones to fight Aspinall, or forces him out of the promotion all together. However, we as fans are hoping that it wouldn’t come down to the latter. On the other hand, Tom Aspinall has kept his composure through the whole ordeal of having to defend his interim title. Despite Jones’ scathing remarks towards him and accusations of ducking the Englishman, ‘Honey Badger’ is positive about the future of this fight. How so? Let’s find out.

Tom Aspinall is optimistic about the Jon Jones fight

Much to no one’s surprise, Jon Jones didn’t acknowledge Tom Aspinall in his UFC 309 speech. He did allude to wanting to ‘give the fans the fight they deserve’, but didn’t clarify his stance. While Jones has dropped names like Alex Pereira, Jamahal Hill, and Derrick Lewis, everyone knows that ‘Poatan’ is who he has in mind. However, the spirit of Tom Aspinall will follow Jones wherever he goes, even if it takes the form of a conversation between the interim champ and the UFC top brass. According Aspinall, conversations with the UFC high order resulted in promising developments for the UFC heavyweight title unification bout.

“I’ll tell you a bit of an exclusive news right here on TNT Sports. I was getting a few nods and winks [from] the bosses when Jon Jones was talking about the next fight. That means a lot to me, and not only that, I spoke to [the] UFC brass this week. Both guys [the matchmakers] were talking about – ‘this is going to be the biggest heavyweight fight in UFC history – absolutely no doubt about it’. Potentially, one of the biggest fights in UFC history,”, Aspinall told ‘TNT Sports’.

As we head into 2025, the potential title unification bout between Jones and Aspinall is Dana White’s elephant in the room. Will Dana White put the UFC’s interest before Jon Jones’? Most certainly, yes. What about Jon Jones? Where does he go if he doesn’t get his wish? Let us know in the comments down below.