TAMPA, Fla. – UFC CEO Dana White is not one to make guarantees when it comes to unconfirmed matchmaking, but Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall is an exception.
The much-desired heavyweight title unification bout between champ Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) and interim titleholder Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) has been in limbo as “Bones” teases retirement and dismissed a matchup with the Brit.
White expressed confidence that the fight would happen following Jones’ title defense against Stipe Miocic in November, and when asked at Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 63 post-fight news conference if he can be certain it would happen, White gave a definitive answer.
“I’ll say 100 percent (the fight happens),” White told MMA Junkie. “I think it’s probably the biggest fight in heavyweight history, and it’s a massive fight in the history of the company, too. It’s a big fight.”
Dana White makes a RARE guarantee that Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall unify UFC titles in 2025: “Yeah. I’ll say 100 percent.”
(via @DannySeguraTV) pic.twitter.com/Juax5RDeFi
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) December 15, 2024
Although Jones appears to be putting on a front that he has no interest in Aspinall, White said his experience talking to the man he regards as the greatest of all time is different in private.
“It’s weird,” White said. “What’s weird about that, let me tell you what’s weird about that: So usually guys say that sh*t behind the scenes and not publicly. Jon says that sh*t publicly but not behind the scenes. Jon is a very unique individual to deal with. From Day 1, I’ve been confident that Jon Jones would do that fight. Even before the fight (with Miocic), I said Jon will do this fight. Jon Jones isn’t afraid to fight anybody, and that’s a fact.
“The only time that anything remotely weird has happened with Jon Jones is the time that his f*cking camp did the weird Chael Sonnen thing, ‘We can’t fight Chael Sonnen on short notice.’ and that wasn’t him. It was his team, and he listened to his team for whatever reason. But that’s like the goofiest f*cking move in the history of the UFC. But other than that, Jon Jones is not a guy that, behind the scenes, turns down fights.”
