Jon Jones’ New Demand Sidelines Dana White’s UFC in Tom Aspinall Fight Talks

Jon Jones just pulled another power move, and this time it may have left Dana White and the UFC on the sidelines. Despite the UFC head honcho’s announcement that Jones had agreed to a long-awaited title unification fight with Tom Aspinall, ‘Bones’ now appears to have changed the terms. But what is it now?

In typical Jon Jones style, he has now said clearly that the fight will happen, but on one condition. And that condition? It’s not inside the UFC Octagon. While promoting the Dirty Boxing Championship (DXB 2) event in Miami, the reigning heavyweight champion was asked quite a predictable question: Will he finally face the Briton?

But, to the surprise of many, his response was not about money or legacy; it was about the location of the fight. “I really do want to fight Tom Aspinall,” he told the reporter. “I just want to meet him here at Dirty Boxing. We’ll fight here at Dirty Boxing.”

Well, there you have it. ‘Bones’ has named the venue; now it is up to Tom Aspinall to take it either as a serious response or one filled with sarcasm. For quite a while now, fans had seen Dana White confidently announce that the unification fight was on. Just days ago, during the UFC 316 post-fight press conference, he stated, “Jon agreed to fight Tom, yes. I’ve been saying it since the beginning.”

However, Jon Jones, who had just returned to the United States from filming a reality show in Thailand, pretended to be unaware of the situation. “No, I did not see Dana’s comments,” the champion told reporters. When informed of White’s announcement, ‘Bones’ shrugged and asked, “Is that what he said?” Well, his disinterest was deafening.

The situation has evolved beyond a contract dispute; it is now evident that Jon Jones is exploiting his star status against the very institution that made him. The UFC reportedly committed to a record purse to make the Aspinall fight possible.

But ‘Bones,’ who has spent a lot of time hyping battles with Francis Ngannou and Alex Pereira while joking about retirement, shows no signs of urgency. In fact, Tom Aspinall even claimed that Jon Jones is retired and won’t be getting into a title unification bout. But how true is that claim? Well, the reigning heavyweight champion was asked to respond to it.

Jon Jones evades question on his retirement status

Jon Jones’ new fighting condition for Aspinall was already unusual, but his recent response to retirement rumors has just added to the confusion. After dangling the unification bout in front of the UFC and its fans, ‘Bones’ appears to be enjoying the ambiguity. So, when Tom Aspinall said Jones was retired, many expected a direct response.

Instead, they received a deflected question and another plug for Dirty Boxing 2. The moment unfolded outside The Hangar in Miami, just hours before the Dirty Boxing event. A fan-turned-interviewer questioned ‘Bones’ directly if he had retired. Before the champion could react, a voice off-camera attempted to silence the question.

But Jones, cool and composed, decided to play along. “Oh man. Be sure to check out Dirty Boxing 2 tomorrow night,” he replied, diverting the question expertly. When pressed on what it would take to return, he smirked and said, “If you come to Dirty Boxing, you’ll find out.”

And perhaps that’s the true story here. Jon Jones is not just avoiding blows; he is also avoiding answers. ‘Bones’ continues to mess with the narrative, despite fans calling for answers, and Dana White obviously irritated. But what do you think? Will he end up fighting Aspinall? Let us know in the comments.

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