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Tom Aspinall fires brutal warning to Jon Jones as timeline on UFC super fight set

UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.
-Credit: (Image: Getty Images)


Tom Aspinall believes reigning heavyweight champion Jon Jones would have difficulties preparing for a fight with him due to his extraordinary finish rate since joining the UFC in 2020.

Aspinall, 31, has been keen to compete against Jones since defeating Sergei Pavlovich at Madison Square Garden last November to become the interim heavyweight champion.

But the Greater Manchester-born fighter had to settle for the role as a back-up on Saturday night at UFC 309 in New York City as Jones made a successful first defence of his heavyweight title against veteran Stipe Miocic.

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In the build-up to last weekend's bout, Jones, 37, who is regarded by many as the greatest fighter in UFC history, insisted that he would need to be paid handsomely to consider unifying his heavyweight title against the Briton.

However, Aspinall believes a potential bout would prove to be a nightmare for Jones to prepare for owing to his record-breaking resume in the UFC.

Since debuting against Jake Collier in July 2020, Aspinall has the shortest average fight time in the promotion's history (2:02), which he believes would limit the amount of analysis Jones is able to carry out.

Speaking about a potential bout with Jones, Aspinall told the Ariel Helwani Show: "He loves to study opponents like this. He has no chance of doing that with me, because my average fight time is the shortest in UFC history at 2:02. All 10 fights and that's something that keeps him up at night. That will keep him up at night, for sure.

"I'm a massive, massive question mark for him, and I know a lot of his game. He's got a lot of octagon time over a lot of years, and I've got next to nothing, next to no footage of me, nothing of me out there apart from bouncing people's heads off the canvas. He has no idea what to prepare for, and that is fantastic for me."

Aspinall has not fought since he KO'd Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in July, but insists he's ready to make his return to the octagon whenever he's told.

"I think that's a question for Jon Jones, not me," responded Aspinall when asked for the date of his next bout. "I'm ready to go whenever. This is what I said to the UFC, and that is zero disrespect Michael Chandler, but I just said I don't want to be in a Michael Chandler situation. And they assured me that's not going to happen.

"I don't want to do that, I want to be active and fight while I'm healthy and young and, as I've said to you before, move on and do something else. I'm an easy-going guy, you don't have to talk me into too much. Throw me a pair of gloves, tell me where, and I'll be there."