Dana White says Jon Jones is not afraid to fight Tom Aspinall. ESPN reported the UFC CEO’s comment Monday, and it lands right on top of the fan chatter that has Jones steering clear of the British heavyweight.
That is the claim, and it’s a blunt one. What it doesn’t come with, at least in the reporting available, is a date, an event or a signed bout agreement. A denial is a denial. Fans will want a booking.
The timing is awkward for anyone trying to make sense of the heavyweight division, because the division doesn’t make much sense right now. Ciryl Gane is the current undisputed champion, and he defends that belt at UFC 334 on Nov. 14 against Josh Hokit. Gane got there after title shots against Aspinall and Alex Pereira, a run that has the guy ranked No. 2 openly questioning what the strap even means.
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That guy is Alexander Volkov. He told MMA Fighting before UFC 333 that the belt is drifting away from pure merit. “But now we can get fights, title shots [for] just being more famous, and doesn’t matter how you [became] famous,” Volkov said. He also pointed to the fouls Gane committed in the UFC White House fight, and he called Hokit a showman who is loud right now.
Volkov then went out Saturday in Abu Dhabi and beat Rizvan Kuniev, a lower-ranked opponent, 30-27 on the cards. TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter wrote on X that it was a solid night that could have earned Volkov a title shot, depending on the health of Tom Aspinall. Aspinall, for what it’s worth, had picked Volkov to win in his UFC 333 predictions on X. Volkov had already asked the obvious question himself: “who can be closer to the title than me, who is No. 2 in ranking?”
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Pereira, now 0-1 at heavyweight, is also lurking. He meets Sergei Pavlovich in the co-main event of UFC 335 on Dec. 12, and a win could put the former two-division champ back in line for a shot at a third UFC title.
Jones’ name got dragged into UFC 333 from a different direction, too. After his win on the card, Dominick Reyes went after Daniel Cormier on X, writing, “And no Jon jones didn’t whoop all of us, he whooped you! Bad! Multiple times. Kid.” Cormier answered calmly, saying Reyes seemed to be carrying something for a while and adding, “You can always talk to me. I’m not very hard to find.”
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My take: White can tell us all day that Jones isn’t scared, and he might even be right. Fear was never the problem fans were pointing at. The problem is a heavyweight picture with an undisputed champ fighting Hokit, a No. 2 contender getting fed lower-ranked guys, Pereira waiting on Pavlovich, and Aspinall’s health now part of the conversation for title shots. Jones vs. Aspinall settles the ducking talk the only way it can be settled, with a date on a poster. Until then, the next real heavyweight answer comes Nov. 14, when Gane and Hokit walk out.
