The heavyweight title saga between current champion Jon Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) and interim title holder Tom Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) has been dragging on for almost 18 months now.
Former 205-pound champion Jones finally made his long-awaited heavyweight debut just over two years ago when he submitted Cyril Gane to win the vacant heavyweight strap at UFC 285.
He picked up a long-term injury while preparing for his first title defense against Stipe Miocic later that year, which opened up an opportunity for Aspinall to face Serghei Pavlovich for the interim belt at UFC 295.
The Brit knocked Pavlovich out in little over a minute, and spent the following year begging for the UFC to make a title unification fight upon Jones's return.
"Bones" ignored Aspinall's pleas and instead came back in November against Stipe Miocic, finsihing the 42-year-old in the third-round of their clash at UFC 309.
With Aspinall taking just sixty seconds to knock out Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 last July, it would seem there is nowhere else for Jones to go, and a huge clash between the pair to unify the heavyweight belts is the only fight to make.
While there had been specualtion that Jones might vacate the title and retire rather than face Aspinall, Dana White this week confirmed the fight is all but ready to be announced.
“It’s going to happen,” White said during an interview with TNT Sports on Friday. “It’s done, but it’s not done. Not done enough to sit right here now and announce it and give you a date. But fight’s going to happen. It’s just a matter of getting it signed now.
“If we pull this off and actually make the fight, announce it and start leading up to it, this will be the biggest heavyweight fight in UFC history.”
“I said it when we first started talking about it and I’ve said it many times in between, and I’ll say it now,” White said. “The fight’s going to happen.”
