Very few fighters in the UFC have openly challenged Jon Jones and one of them is the current Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion, Tom Aspinall. Following his last win over Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295, Aspinall has time and again challenged the heavyweight champion to establish himself as the best fighter in the division. However, Jones is apprehensive about giving the interim champion the title fight and remains firm in his decision to fight Stipe Miocic after recovering from the injury. Though Aspinall has made peace with never getting a chance to take on Jones, he did recently take a dig at the champion.

Aspinall will defend his interim title against Curtis Blaydes in the upcoming UFC 304 PPV event. Ahead of the fight, when asked about his chances of ever fighting the GOAT heavyweight fighter, Tom Aspinall didn’t mince his words as he raised questions over the potential comeback on Jon Jones. Speaking to Michael Bisping on his YouTube channel, the interim champion reckoned, “Well, is he even fighting Stipe? Because we’ve seen it we’ve seen the rumors. Where’s the sign contract where’s the announcement? Do you know what I mean? Is that going to happen?”. 

Jones is currently working towards his recovery and will most probably face Stipe Miocic next. The pair was scheduled to face each other at UFC 295, but the fight never happened because of an injury to ‘Bones’. However, there have been concerns about the champion’s fitness lately as a few days back he claimed in a now-deleted post on X, “Getting half my finger cut off at the Las Vegas airport.” Following the update, many UFC insiders and fans have been questioning the comeback of the fighter to the promotion, with some even asking Dana White to strip him of his HW title.

Meanwhile, Tom Aspinall has now moved past Jon Jones. While he will always be excited about fighting the heavyweight champion, the 31-year-old has made peace with the fact that he might never get a chance to do that. In the same conversation with ‘The Count’, Aspinall claimed, “I don’t think I am gonna Fight him. I don’t think he’s gonna fight me.” 

Aspinall is now focused on the next big challenge of his career against a known opponent in ‘ Razor’. ‘Honey Badger’ suffered a horrendous injury during his previous fight against Blaydes in 2022 and many felt it was the end for him. Aspinall has worked his way back to full fitness, but the injury did have an impact on the interim champion.

Tom Aspinall reveals the difficulties he faced during his comeback

The two heavyweight giants met for the first time in the year 2022 in a highly anticipated clash. The spot for the number one contender was on the line and both fighters went all in. However, what followed was panic when Aspinall suffered an injury in the first fifteen seconds of the fight. The ringside physicians rushed to the Octagon to have a look and ruled him out of the fight. It was later revealed that the 31-year-old tore his medial collateral ligament and the meniscus.

He also damaged his anterior cruciate ligament in the process, thus forcing him out of action. Aspinall worked extremely hard during this time and decided to give it one more shot. During his interview with ‘Mainevent’, the fighter shared about his problems, “With great difficulty, mate, to be honest. It was tough. You know, I was doing a lot of stuff wrong. And I really decided that I’m either gonna retire from the sport, or I’m going absolutely all in and be 100% focused on what I’m doing. And I obviously decided to go all in.”

‘Honey Badger’ has, time and again, claimed that he is the better fighter between the two. However, he will now have to back his words with actions and avenge his previous loss against Blaydes. Who do you think will win the fight between the two? Let us know your pick in the comments below.