Tom Aspinall is the future of the heavyweight division, or that, at least, at the moment, seems to be the consensus in the UFC world. With his almost flawless all-around game, ability to move like a middleweight, and a string of fantastic performances, the interim champion has all the makings of a dominant champion.

Now, having defeated Curtis ‘Razor’ Blaydes on UFC 304, he is in line to face the winner of the upcoming Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic undisputed title bout. However, verbose UFC analyst and former superstar, Chael Sonnen thinks Aspinall may not even wait for Jones.

Sonnen feels Jon Jones fight may never happen for Aspinall

In a video on his official YouTube channel, Chael Sonnen pointed out that while Tom Aspinall was in line to fight Jon Jones (who is expected to almost definitely beat Miocic), there were many many obstacles standing between them. “The information that we were given by Dana was yes, Tom versus the winner of Jon and Stipe. Guys we’re talking about, very realistically, for sure that’s a 2025 fight. But very realistically they’re probably going to save that… for International Fight Weekend of 2025. So if you’re in Tom’s shoes that’s a meaningful amount of time. I really do think and I think Tom would agree with me,” he said.

‘The Bad Guy’ felt that the UFC would book the much-awaited heavyweight title unification bout for a marquee card like the International Fight Week in mid-2025. As such, not only will Aspinall have to sit out for almost a year, but Jones would have to not retire after the Miocic bout, as he is expected to do.

In addition, there may be injury concerns, finagling about the venue for the bout, and a host of other potential spanners in the works, which may derail the bout. Given this uncertainty, Sonnen felt that Aspinall would rather face another opponent in the meanwhile than wait for a Jones fight which may not even materialize.

“If we had him here right now and we said ‘hey, we can make this happen but we don’t know if it will happen. We got to get a guy that said he’s going to retire, we got to get him to agree. Oh by the way we got to get him past Stipe Miocic, which is not easy for anybody. We got to get him healed, we got to play the venue game like anybody else. And then if it all works out, July of next year. Do you want that or would you like to see what’s behind door B?’ I think Tom would say ‘I want to see what’s behind door B. I want to stay busy. I want to do something else,” Sonnen added before he suggested a candidate for Aspinall to fight next.

Sonnen seconds Tom Aspinall’s Alex Pereira suggestion

Sonnen felt that Tom Aspinall’s recent suggestion about possibly fighting Alex Pereira in the co-main event of  Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic was a good idea. ‘Poatan’, the reigning light heavyweight champion, of course, has said multiple times he wants to move to heavyweight and fight for the title there. Not only would it greatly enhance ‘Poatan’s legacy but make him the UFC’s first-ever three-division champion. And both Jones and Aspinall have expressed interest in fighting the Brazilian for their title. ‘Uncle Chael’ thinks the UFC should go ahead with this since he was sure Pereira would jump on the offer.

“Tom’s suggestion is I’ll come out to Madison Square Garden, I’ll fight ‘Poatan’…That’s good enough for me and you know what it’d be good enough for Pereira, too. Pereira will take that deal right now,” Sonnen said.

Fans, of course, are already on board and have been calling on Dana White to give ‘Poatan’ a shot at the 270-pound gold. However, the UFC CEO has been insistent he doesn’t think that’s a good move and wants Pereira to ‘clean out’ 205 before thinking about moving up. But, if there is one thing that White loves most, it is money, and if enough money could be made from an Aspinall-Pereira at heavyweight, he may be amenable to change his mind.

What are your thoughts on Chael Sonnen’s predictions about Aspinall’s future?