Dana White is optimistic the biggest fight of MMA’s calendar will soon be a reality.
The UFC CEO told TNT Sports on Friday that the long-awaited, much-discussed heavyweight title unification between UFC champion Jon Jones and interim champ Tom Aspinall is “done but it’s not done” and “just a matter of when now” in regards to the final negotiations for the blockbuster bout.
“The fight is going to happen. It’s just a matter of when now, getting it signed and done,” White said.
“It’s going to happen. It’s done but it’s not done — not done enough to sit right here now and announce it and give you a date. But the fight is going to happen. … It’s just a matter of getting it signed now.”
White previously called Jones vs. Aspinall “the biggest fight in heavyweight history” and issued a guarantee late this past year that the champion-vs.-champion bout would come to fruition in 2025.
The ascent of Aspinall followed Jones’ reign like a dark cloud in 2024, and grew only more burdensome after Aspinall’s 60-second knockout of Curtis Blaydes in August to defend the interim belt. The 31-year-old Englishman has run roughshod over the UFC heavyweight division since signing with the UFC in 2020, racking up an 8-1 record with all eight victories ending in first- or second-round stoppages. Aspinall avenged his lone loss — a 15-second injury defeat to Blaydes — in his interim title defense.
Aspinall then served as the backup fighter for Jones’ heavyweight title defense against Stipe Miocic in November at UFC 309, though his services were not needed as Jones dominated the 41-year-old former two-time champ en route to a highlight-reel knockout to notch the first defense of his heavyweight belt.
Jones spent much of UFC 309 fight week downplaying the chances he ever faces Aspinall and instead calling out now-former UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. However, Jones left the door to an Aspinall fight slightly ajar in his post-fight press conference, bluntly calling on the UFC to pay him “f*** you money” to accept the title unification bout.
Aspinall’s coach and father, Andy Aspinall, subsequently told Uncrowned in November that UFC executives White and Hunter Campbell were trying “everything in their power” to make the bout happen, though sources within Aspinall’s camp expressed frustration to Uncrowned in February at the lack of movement regarding negotiations for the matchup. Hopes for the Jones fight had begun dwindling within Aspinall’s camp around that time, sources told Uncrowned, though White has remained consistent throughout the drawn-out saga with his messaging that Jones vs. Aspinall will, in fact, come together.
Both Aspinall (No. 6) and Jones (No. 8) are ranked among Uncrowned’s pound-for-pound best fighters in the world. If the pairing does come together, it will likely be Jones’ biggest and most publicized bout since his two-fight rivalry with Daniel Cormier in 2015-17.