This weekend at UFC Baku, Dana White broke some major news which finally started moving the heavyweight division. White announced that Jon Jones had informed them that he was officially retiring and would be giving up the heavyweight title. With Jones retiring, the interim champion, Tom Aspinall (15-3) was officially named undisputed heavyweight champion.
Tom Aspinall has wanted the Jon Jones fight for nearly two years after Jones defeated Ciryl Gane to become the heavyweight champion back in 2023. However, it wasn’t about Jones the fighter, it was about what Jones had and that was the undisputed heavyweight title.
Aspinall has stated on multiple occasions that he just wanted to be the undisputed heavyweight champion, and now Aspinall is the official king of the heavyweights. Aspinall knocked out Sergei Pavlovich in November 2023 to become the interim champion and then he knocked out Curtis Blaydes last summer to retain his UFC interim title.
Who is next for the UFC champ?
With Jones out of the picture and Aspinall the official heavyweight champion, who should be next for him? I think there are a couple of options, but in my opinion, I think it’s fairly obvious who the promotion is going to go with. I think the UFC is going to book Aspinall against former interim champion Ciryl Gane (13-2).
Gane and Aspinall have been circling each other over the past couple of years. It would be a massive global fight with Gane being from France while Aspinall is from England. Given the international flare, I see this fight headlining MSG in November. New York just seems like the perfect place and I think the promotion wanted Aspinall fighting there all along with the ideal fight being the Jon Jones fight.
Should Gane not get the fight, the only other contender that could make sense is Jailton Almeida (22-3). Almeida did lose to Curtis Blaydes last year, but he’s bounced back very well with two straight first round finishes. It’ll be Gane or Almeida who will challenge Aspinall for the UFC heavyweight title.