Tom Aspinall sheds light on what he was told in a meeting by Dana White about a potential Jon Jones fight
Finally, there's a real possibility that a massive fight between Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall is happening. In an appearance on Piers Morgan's YouTube show, interim UFC heavyweight champion Aspinall confirmed that the bout is something the UFC and Dana White are pursuing.
White himself campaigned for the fight even before Jones defended his UFC heavyweight throne against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 last month. The UFC CEO claimed that 'Bones' owes it to Aspinall to give him a shot. Since Jones is largely considered the GOAT and Aspinall the division's future, this unification bout has Ali vs. Frazier written all over it.
When asked what he felt about White saying that Jones vs. Aspinall will be the biggest fight in UFC heavyweight history, the towering Englishman said:
"Well, I agree. That [Dana White's comments] took place, that interview, right after the [Jon] Jones fight. The same night [UFC 309]. And actually, right after that press conference, I had a meeting with Dana."
He added:
"So in all honesty I was expecting him to come and maybe negotiate a little bit and he literally walked into the room and said, 'It's happening.' And I said, 'Well he's [Jone is] going to want loads of money. And he said, 'I know. But it's happening. It's going to be the biggest fight in UFC history."
Check out Tom Aspinall's comments below (9:21):
Tom Aspinall on unification bout with Jon Jones: "I don't really care about money"
Piers Morgan then pointed out that Jon Jones went on record to say he wanted a substantial purse for the fight, which the British broadcaster speculated would be accepted. Tom Aspinall agreed, which prompted Morgan to ask if he would receive similar compensation.
Aspinall avoided the question by saying (10:29):
"I don't really care about money at this point. I mean, obviously, I've got a family. I want to make as much money as I can. But to me what's more important is unifying the belts. See, in MMA, it's a little bit different [from] boxing in the aspect of you have different weight divisions, which is very like boxing, of course - but usually have one champion, one face, one name of every division."
He continued:
"Now, in the heavyweight division right now there's two. And I don't want it to be two. Because I feel like I'm the number one."