UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, despite everything that has gone on between him and heavyweight champ Jon Jones, is a big fan of ‘Bones’. Jones, of course, was scheduled to face Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 in a legacy-defining fight against the man most believe to be the UFC heavyweight GOAT. However, ‘Jonny Boy’, weeks away from the Madison Square Garden card, which was expected to be both men’s last hurrah in the octagon, got injured. During a training session, he tore his right pectoral muscle, which, of course, forced him to pull out.

The UFC scrambled to put on a replacement bout for the card and settled on a cracking matchup for the interim 270-pound title: up-and-coming prospect Tom Aspinall vs. knockout artist Sergei Pavlovich, coming into the bout after knocking out his last 7 opponents in the 1st round. Aspinall went on to defeat the Russian at his own game, scoring a spectacular 69-second knockout, and emerged as the new interim heavyweight champ. Since then, fans, analysts, and Jones’ peers have called for the champ to face Aspinall instead of Miocic, but Jones has refused. The Englishman is not bitter about it and still holds the man considered the greatest MMA artist ever in great regard.

Tom Aspinall expresses his admiration and respect for Jones

As the interim champion, Aspinall had been at the front calling for a Jones fight, even approaching the former light heavyweight champion in person to challenge him. Jones, however, is adamant. The New Mexico resident has repeatedly turned up his nose on the prospect of a fight with him because of reasons ranging from Aspinall’s resume, and his star power. A fight with the Englishman won’t move the needle on his legacy.

In addition, Bones has been taking shots at the interim champ at every opportunity. However, Aspinall, being the class act that he is, has revealed that he still considers Jones a “legend.” The Manchester native made it clear he was over the Jones fight and was fully focused on his upcoming fight with Curtis ‘Razor’ Blaydes at UFC 304.

“Honestly think Jon Jones is a legend. I respect what he’s done in the Octagon, but right now he’s quite irrelevant to what I’m doing. Like I’m fighting Curtis Blaydes… Like I need to be 1 million percent focused on this. And this is said with a lot of respect, I have nothing against Jon regardless of what he says, it’s all bollocks, but I’m like 100% invested in beating Curtis,” he said in a recent interview with ‘TheMacLife’.

While no Jones fight to unify the UFC’s heaviest division’s title, Aspinall’s co-main event bout against ‘Razor’ is nowhere near inconsequential as it would help him avenge the only loss of his career, which came under extraordinary circumstances anyways.

Aspinall looking to finish unfinished business with Blaydes

Legendary former UFC middleweight champion, and Tom Aspinall’s English compatriot, Michael Bisping has predicted that the current interim champion will be the greatest UFC heavyweight in history, by far. And Aspinall’s performances lend credence to Bisping’s admittedly hyperbolic claims.

Except for one blemish: a career-first loss to Curtis Blaydes at their Fight Night clash two years ago. However, it is important to remember that just like Jones (who has a DQ loss on his record), Aspinall was not actually beaten by his opponent in the octagon.

Barely 15 seconds into his heavyweight clash against Blaydes, the Englishman blew out his knee in a freak injury. He was unable to continue. Without the fight having gotten off the ground properly, Blaydes scored a TKO victory, while Aspinall suffered the first loss of his professional career.

On UFC 304, the Englishman is determined to make this right and fight Blaydes to determine who the better fighter is. Given Blaydes’s exciting, striking first style of fighting, and Aspinall’s willingness to engage on the feet even against dangerous strikers (as he proved against Pavlovich), their bout is expected to be an exciting one, with a good chance of someone getting slept.

And maybe, just maybe, if Aspinall wins spectacularly as he did at UFC 295, the UFC may choose to have Aspinall fight Jones after all. Although the chances of that, at the moment at least, seem much closer to zero than one, and thus, not worth holding one’s breath.