The anticipation for UFC 309 continues to build, not just for the headline fight between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic but also with all the drama involving interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall. In a recent interview with TNT Sports, Aspinall revealed his bold plans to follow the path of Alexander Volkanovski to get the attention of UFC head honcho Dana White. On two occasions, Alexander Volkanovski entered the Octagon to face potential future fighters; one was when Khabib Nurmagomedov invited him into the Octagon after Islam Makhachev’s win at UFC 280, and the other was after Ilia Topuria beat Max Holloway at UFC 308.

Speaking to Michael Bisping, Aspinall revealed how the UFC was continuously sidelining him and shutting his requests down. He revealed, “I requested to go to the press conference, they didn’t want me there. I requested go to the weigh ins, they didn’t want me there. So we’ll see what happens there with the face-off in the Octagon, but that would be great if we can do that.” To this, the second interviewer suggested that the Englishman doing what Volk did at UFC 280. At this suggestion, Bisping asked, “Would you force your way into it?”, to which, Aspinall responded with an affirmative, “I’d like to yeah, absolutely.” 

If the Briton actually follows through on his statements, we may get to see a repetition of Alexander Volkanovski’s infamous in-ring promos. However, there would be one major difference as Tom Aspinall teased being theatrical about it. If he were to enter into the Octagon after the UFC 309 main event, Tom Aspinall said that he would love to mimic the WWE legend Hulk Hogan – “Whip the shirt off, go full Hulk Hogan, and just start ripping it.” Well, that would make for an extremely viral moment that we as UFC fans would love to witness, especially if Jon Jones wins the fight since it is he who has been rejecting the fight against the interim UFC champion.

While fans are eager to witness the clash between ‘Bones’ and Stipe Miocic, the idea of Aspinall bypassing the restrictions set by Dana White to enter the Octagon would be an equally interesting sight to see. Furthermore, such a move would only bring some light heartedness into the whole situation, what with Jones making things personal by calling the Englishman names. However, while the Englishman’s TNT interview was clearly an interesting one, the same cannot be said for Jon Jones.

Jon Jones refuses an interview with the sports media

In the UFC 309 fight week, the interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall ramped up his criticism Jon Jones, flat-out accusing him of avoiding a title unification fight. According to Aspinall, ‘Bones’ is afraid of suffering a real loss, while Jones believes Aspinall ‘wants to make a name off of him’ and ‘hasn’t proven himself’ enough as a worthy challenger. As a result, the media put ‘Bones’ in a tight spot, questioning his statements and having the heavyweight champion backtrack on certain statements, only fueling the anger of fight fans.

So when TNT reporter Adam Catterall arrived to interview Jones, the UFC heavyweight champion decided to walk away. But why? Well, because the UFC heavyweight champion said, “I’m not doing this interview. It’s going to be an Aspinall fest.” This charge stems from Aspinall co-hosting of the Combat Lab series with Adam Catterall on TNT Sports 1 and Discovery Plus.

When Jon Jones was asked for an interview, he declined to participate as he believed that the attention would be focused on the bout against Aspinall rather than his forthcoming battle at UFC 309. It’s hard to tell where Jon Jones will go after UFC 309. Will he relinquish the title in the quest for ‘fun fight’, or will he risk putting his title on the line against Aspinall, keeping in mind Dana White’s ultimatum? Regardless, Jones is not winning any points with fans for skipping interviews loaded with difficult questions.

What are your thoughts on Jon Jones refusing an interview? Please let us know in the comments.