Tom Aspinall had planned to attend Thursday’s UFC 309 press conference but was told he couldn’t. The interim UFC heavyweight champion has been an excellent addition to the Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic heavyweight championship matchup coming Saturday at Madison Square Garden. After successfully weighing in as a backup, Aspinall hoped to fight Jon Jones if Stipe Miocic withdrew. The Brit is indeed eager to land a fight against Jones. Didn’t you hear what he just said?

Ahead of the fight between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic, Aspinall told Michael Bisping during an interview that he might break into the cage to confront Jon Jones to force a match between them. ‘The Count’ wondered if he would actually do it, to which Aspinall replied, “I’d like to yeah, absolutely.”

If this wasn’t enough, the Englishman also suggested that he would go all Hulk Hogan and rip his shirt off once inside the Octagon. “Whip the shirt off, go full Hulk Hogan, and just start ripping it.” While the possibility of Aspinall rubbing shoulders with Jones lies at the hands of the UFC, the promotion has done its bit to give a ‘Jones’ feeling to Aspinall! What happened?

The interim heavyweight champion made his presence felt by appearing in the audience in the UFC 309. While his attendance alone was newsworthy, what was more exciting was that he was made to sit alongside Jon Jones’ brothers, Arthur (elder) and Chandler (younger)! The brothers are distinguished NFL players, both being Super Bowl Champions.

In an Instagram post shared by ESPN MMA, Aspinall, donning a fur jacket, was seen passing by the Jones brothers to get to his seat. Was that an attempt by the UFC to amp up the heat between Jones and Aspinall? We can not completely deny, especially given that Jones has repeatedly rejected the prospect of a fight against the interim UFC heavyweight champion.

Jones was supposed to defend his heavyweight title against Miocic at UFC 295 last year but an injury forced him to withdraw. Meanwhile, Aspinall challenged Sergei Pavlovich for the interim belt and successfully clinched victory with a stoppage in the first round. Since then, the majority of the MMA community has clamored for Jones vs. Aspinall in a unification bout.

Nonetheless, UFC stuck to their original plan as they rescheduled Jones vs. Miocic despite frequent complaints from fans and experts alike. Jones has even stated on many occasions that he does not want to fight Aspinall and would rather face light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira because of the box office appeal. However, the presence of Jones’ brothers during the fight might not be just to support their brother. Arthur and Chandler look to have some love for the sport.

According to Jon, his brothers were the reason why he got into the UFC landscape. In a conversation with ‘Ketone-IQ,’ ahead of the fight, Jon Jones emphasized that his brother and his jiu-jitsu teacher impacted his career in professional fighting. “I grew up in a really athletic family. Both of my brothers—everyone knew they were going to be in the NFL by the time they were in college, I pretty much just wanted to keep up with the Joneses.” But not just that, Jones thought that his brothers are no less than him when it comes to fighting.

In a conversation with Yahoo Sports MMA insider Kevin Iole, Jon had clearly said that Chandler could have been a top MMA fighter. “Chandler is a specimen. He’s really strong. He’s actually the strongest athlete I’ve ever put my hands on,” Jon had said. He is someone who has grew up fighting with his brothers and as he had said, oftentimes it were his brothers who had an edge over him.

“My brother is one of the best heavyweights in New York state wrestling history and I would wrestle him every day in high school and I would get my a*s kicked by my older brother my whole life,” Jon had said about his brothers. In fact, back in 2015, Chandler wanted to fight Jon!

Hold on! What Chandler meant was an exhibition match. But Chandler did want to beat his brother into submission! “Me and my brother used to fight all the time when we were young. I’m pretty sure I can take him down now. I am way bigger than he is. I would just throw him to the ground,” Chandler had said back then. While we surely love the brotherly love, for now, fans can not stop chattering about the sitting arrangement that just happened at the UFC 309.

Fans loved the sight of seeing Tom Aspinall’s interaction with the Jones family

When Tom Aspinall was seen going to his seat and crossing the family of Jon Jones, this was a moment that truly made fans rush to the comment section to share their thoughts. Some wondered why Jon Jones’ brothers looked at Aspinall as if they were about to fight. Well, maybe they heard all the ducking accusations that the interim UFC champion made.

However, if a fight did take place, we can not say who would be the one winning it. Because if look at the physique, at least Chandler looks no less than a good prospect. He is listed at 6’5”, 265 pounds. For context, Jones is 6’4″, 205 pounds. In fact, we can get a hint of Chandler’s prospects from what Jon himself had said.

“There was a time we were at a hotel a few years ago, and he was sitting down on a couch. And I came and stood right in front of him, and I put my hands down on his wrists like this. And I was like, I’m always going to be your big brother. You better remember that. Chandler, while sitting there, he took his wrist, and he goes like this. Look at me in the eyes. And he just almost lifted me off my feet. I had never felt such a strength,” Jon had recalled.

So when fans wrote comments like, “Jones brothers acting like Tom couldn’t put their lights out, ” and “Jones brother acting like he’s going to do something to Tom 😂”, that actually could not have been a bad idea!

Some fans believed that it was wrong of the UFC to make Aspinall sit beside Jones’ family, as it surely can lead to some intense back and forth. In fact, things may even come to blows. So a fan wrote, “That’s dirty of the UFC to sit Aspinall next to Jones’ family; that’s not correct.”While some fans simply laughed at this practical joke that the UFC might’ve played with the Englishman.

Several in the comments couldn’t help but chuckle. Some such comments were, “Bro walked right by his brothers. 😂😂” and “lol Jons brothers and his dad and Tom walks in😂😂😂 tf am I seeing?” Well, it seems like fans loved the moment. However, it would be interesting to see how Tom Aspinall reacts if Jon Jones wins the fight. Will he break into the cage as he promised? What do you think? Let us know in the comments.