Chatting to TNT Sports in London, UFC president and CEO Dana White revealed that the fight was “done” but at the same time “not done” as he hinted that progress had been made in getting the two fighters to agree to the matchup.
“It’s going to happen,” said White.
“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 the fight’s going to happen. It’s just a matter of getting it signed now.”
Aspinall has been calling for a shot at the undisputed title ever since he captured the interim title with a 69-second knockout of Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 in November 2023.
But Jones has publicly shown significantly less interest in the matchup, talked down Aspinall’s accomplishments and even said that the Englishman had annoyed him with his comments.
Jones also talked about fighting then-light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira in a heavyweight title fight instead, a move that led to fans accusing Jones of ducking a fight with Aspinall.
Jones subsequently said that he wanted “f**k you money” to justify him taking the fight, as he put the ball firmly in the UFC’s court.
And it seems like some progress has been made, with White speaking enthusiastically about what could potentially come to pass later this year.
“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,” he said.
“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 – the fight’s going to happen.”
