Is Jon Jones scared to take on tough fights at 37? According to interim heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall, that’s a yes. Jones has always been very calculated with his moves, even though his legal woes with PEDs show otherwise. He knows when the iron is hot and when to strike. However, this time, his plan for a 6-month prep for the Aspinall fight prompted the Englishman to mock the undisputed champion with a certain prop he carried with him to UFC London where he spilled some beans on the status of the title unification fight.

And as per the Briton, there is big news coming. Meanwhile, a certain UFC insider fueled this fire as well by hinting that the mega fight might happen sooner than expected. American MMA commentator and UFC insider Jon Anik recently gave his thoughts on the potential date for that fight to Submission Radio and said, “I do think it’s gonna happen this year. I think it’s gonna be the 3rd or 4th quarter. Right, if you were to say, is it gonna happen during Labour Day, that first weekend in September, I don’t know. You know, December in Las Vegas would be my prediction. But I hope it happens sooner than that for Tom Aspinall.”

Anik further elaborated on his statements, saying, “You know Jon Jones seemed to be in a pretty good shape when I saw him. I have been shaving my head for years to try to look thinner, whether it’s on television or otherwise. So when Jon Jones has the shaved head, you know you can look like you’re a little bit better in shape than you are in. I don’t know if it’s going to be Madison Square Garden yet, and I think it’s going to be Las Vegas. And that’s why I’m sort of thinking September or  December, just based on the past year.  Nothing informed about my speculation.”

This speculation might age well because Aspinall also declared special news after speaking to UFC CBO Hunter Campbell. “We had a nice meal, and we talked everything through,“ Aspinall said on Uncrowned’s The Ariel Helwani Show. “[UFC CBO] Hunter [Campbell] has always been extremely personable and reasonable with me.” He further made fans wonder by adding, “We had a fantastic meeting. Everything went amazing, and I understand my position now. I understand what the company’s doing now, and you’ve got to stay tuned, my friend. There’s some big news coming.”

Meanwhile, UFC CEO Dana White has also been vocal about this matchup and declared that the much-awaited heavyweight title unification is “done but it’s not done” and just needs a proper date in regards to final negotiations. Aspinall was feeling quite frustrated and rightfully so with the “will they, won’t they” attitude from Jones. However, now he seems to be seeing the silver lining.

Tom Aspinall expressed his optimism about the heavyweight title unification bout

The English interim heavyweight champion of the UFC revealed the news of this matchup in a cryptic way to Ariel Helwani and said, “The break [waiting for Jones’ decision], it’s not a massive break, to be honest. People are saying, ‘Oh, Jon Jones is holding up your career,’ and stuff. It’s only been seven months. It’s not too bad. I don’t want to say too much, but exciting stuff is in the future, for sure.”

But this optimism did not stop him from taking a dig at his probable opponent. During his appearance at UFC London, his actions spoke louder than words as the Brit brought out a small yellow rubber duck while the cameras flashed. The message was as clear as day—that Jones was ‘ducking’ him.

The jibe was not only loved by the media but also by the newly minted light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev who posted on X saying, “BIG TOM (duck emoji) JON.” While Jones’ 6 month strategy backfired, it shows the willingness of Jones to unify the titles with Aspinall. Only question is—when?

Meanwhile, fans’ resentment towards all parties involved in making this fight (barring Tom Aspinall) will only grow the longer they take to get everyone locked in on a date. What do you think? Will the fight happen in the 3rd or 4th quarter of this year, as predicted by Jon Anik? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.