Tom Aspinall can lastly put the Jon Jones drama behind him.
On Saturday, following UFC Baku, UFC CEO Dana White spoke to reporters and introduced Jones is officially retired. Jones was the incumbent undisputed heavyweight champion, however with the 37-year-old hanging up the gloves, Aspinall is formally promoted from interim to undisputed standing.
Shortly after the information was introduced, Aspinall—MMA Fighting’s No. 1-ranked heavyweight—launched an announcement by way of Instagram, which could be seen beneath.
“For you followers,” Aspinall wrote. “It’s time to get this heavyweight division going. An energetic undisputed champion.”
Aspinall and Jones have been embroiled in an limitless feud for the higher a part of the previous two years, with Jones often stating he was bored with ever going through Aspinall in a heavyweight title unification bout.
Jones received a vacant title in March 2023 by working by way of Ciryl Gane after which doing the identical in his first title protection towards Stipe Miocic, which was delayed a yr earlier than happening at UFC 309 this previous November.
Aspinall has lengthy had the extra convincing résumé at heavyweight, with an 8-1 UFC document. His lone loss was as a consequence of damage and he avenged it when he defeated Curtis Blaydes to defend his interim title at UFC 304.
Now, Aspinall awaits official phrase on who his subsequent title protection will probably be towards, with names similar to Ciryl Gane, Jailton Almeida, and former two-division champion Alex Pereira all within the combine.
