Tom Aspinall is finally the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion.
(Chris Unger via Getty Images)
The seemingly endless saga of Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall is finally over. UFC CEO Dana White announced Saturday that Jones has elected to retire rather than fight Aspinall in blockbuster bout to unify the UFC heavyweight titles. As a result, Jones vacates his UFC heavyweight belt and Aspinall, the interim champion for the past 19 months, has been promoted to undisputed champion status.
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The news marks a bittersweet end to Jones’ bizarre heavyweight reign, which began in March 2023 with a first-round submission of Ciryl Gane and ultimately contained only one title defense — a November 2024 showdown against Stipe Miocic, who was 42 years old at the time and hadn’t won a fight since 2020.
After spending the majority of the past two years trying to convince Jones to face him, Aspinall now takes up the mantle as UFC heavyweight king having already almost cleared out the rest of the division’s top ranks. The Englishman is 8-1 under the UFC banner, with his lone loss coming in a setback to Curtis Blaydes that saw Aspinall tear his ACL just 15 seconds into the match; Aspinall swiftly avenged that outcome upon his return with a 60-second destruction of Blaydes this past July to defend his interim belt.
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In his first statement Saturday as undisputed champion, Aspinall posted a clip of White’s announcement and promised fans that they’d finally get “an active undisputed champion.”
For you fans. It’s time to get this Heavyweight division going. An active Undisputed Champion
Considering how long the MMA world waited for resolution to the Jones-Aspinall situation, and Jones’ standing as one of the most decorated — yet controversial — figures in the sport’s history, it’s not a surprise that his long-awaited decision prompted a flood of reactions from his fellow competitors.
A sampling of those reactions can be read below.