Jon Jones refuses to 'do business' with Tom Aspinall after UFC 309, gives ultimatum

Jon Jones is dropping any pretense in his ongoing saga with Tom Aspinall.

Jones, the reigning UFC heavyweight champion, shut the door firmly Wednesday on a potential unification bout with the English interim heavyweight champion following his scheduled UFC 309 title defense against former champion Stipe Miocic. The ascent of Aspinall has followed Jones' reign like a dark cloud in 2024, growing even more burdensome after Aspinall's 60-second knockout of Curtis Blaydes in August to defend the interim belt. But speaking bluntly ahead of UFC 309, Jones made it clear that one of two outcomes will follow a victory over Miocic: Either he faces UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira in what will likely be his final fight, or one of the most decorated careers MMA has ever seen will come to its end.

And Jones places the blame directly at the feet of Aspinall for that ultimatum.

“If I’m being completely honest, I feel like Tom’s been such an a**hole that I don’t want to do business with him," Jones told reporters in New York at UFC 309 media day. "His fans have been so annoying, and obviously you don’t get this far in a career being affected by fans or whatnot, but he’s just an a**hole. He’s 30, so he’s from this influencer generation where you hop online and the T-shirt sales and all that. I’m past that type of stuff. I’m like, bro, if you had a little bit more respect, then maybe we could've worked something out. But I just don’t even want to do business with him.

"At the end of the day, this is a business. And fighting me gives him the opportunity to change his life forever, and I don’t even want to give him the opportunity. He just played his cards wrong with me personally, and I’m three years from being a 40-year-old grown man. The press conference, going through the whole shebang with him, I'd just — I’d rather not do.

"Pereira, on the other side, respectful, cool, barely says much. It's like, I’ll do business with you. I would risk it all with a human being like you. And you actually have the accolades to back up your s***. The other guy is just a big mouth who’s hot today. There’s been so many guys who’s hot today who are just gone. Sergei [Pavlovich] was in the same position not too long ago and now he’s starting to fall off already. I’ve just been around this sport too long to give a big mouth who’s hot today the opportunity.”

Jones, 37, is widely considered one of the greatest MMA fighters to ever compete. The New York native secured 11 successful defenses of the UFC light heavyweight title across multiple reigns from 2011-2020, then transitioned up to heavyweight and captured the vacant belt with a first-round submission of Ciryl Gane in March 2023 following the departure of then-champion Francis Ngannou from the UFC. Though he has a personal history littered with arrests, controversies and failed drug tests, Jones has never truly been defeated inside the cage; his only loss came in a 2009 disqualification against Matt Hamill for a controversial rule regarding the legality of 12-to-6 elbows that has since been abolished.

Jones on Wednesday reiterated that he is willing to vacate the heavyweight title following UFC 309 if it helps facilitate a bout against Pereira, the current UFC light heavyweight champion. Jones previously floated the idea of fighting Pereira for a new version of the promotion's ceremonial "BMF" title.

Aspinall, 31, has run roughshod over the UFC heavyweight division since signing with the UFC in 2020. The English heavyweight is 8-1 under the promotion's banner with all eight victories ending in first- or second-round stoppages. He avenged his lone loss — a 15-second injury defeat to Blaydes — in his August interim title defense. Aspinall earned his interim belt in November 2023 with a first-round knockout of Sergei Pavlovich after stepping into UFC 295 on short notice following a Jones shoulder injury; Jones and Miocic were scheduled to headline that event prior to the injury.

Aspinall is in New York for UFC 309 fight week to ostensibly serve as a back-up fighter for the main event in case either Jones or Miocic fall out of the event.

Jones made it clear on Wednesday, though — that's the closest Aspinall will ever get to fighting him.

“I get that Tom is an exciting fighter. I get that finally, after 16 years, we've found somebody who is seven years younger than me and 30 pounds bigger than me," Jones said. "Like, we finally found someone who may give me a great challenge and everyone wants to see it so bad. But for me, what’s in it for me? He changes nothing if I beat him. Beating Tom is just like beating Ciryl Gane.

“The main goal is to get past Stipe. If I can do it in a really dominant, devastating fashion then the desire in my heart would be like, OK, now it’s Alex Pereira. And if the UFC doesn’t want that to happen, because ultimately it’s the boss’ decision, then it won’t happen and I’ll just move on with my life. But one of the ways I look at it is, would you guys rather lose me or get one more superfight? And the only super fight that makes sense to me — not to everyone else, but to me and my team — is Alex Pereira.”