Chael Sonnen now says the highly anticipated heavyweight unification bout between Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall is not, in fact, finalized.
Just a day after asserting that the championship fight was “agreed, all the way down to the date,” Sonnen is walking back his statement in his typical fashion. Speaking on his YouTube channel, the former three-time UFC title challenger explained that while he initially believed Jones would fight Aspinall next, he now understands there`s a different plan.
“Okay, I might have said that,” Sonnen acknowledged. “I also did believe that to be true, so I do remember—I might have said that… But one thing I do know I told you word for word… I told you Tom Aspinall’s next fight is done, but I don’t know that it will be against Jon Jones. I then told you if Jon Jones fights again, Jon Jones’ next fight will be against Tom Aspinall. I told you that.”
Instead of facing Jones, Sonnen now anticipates that Ciryl Gane, a former interim champion himself, will challenge Aspinall for his interim belt.
“The current plan right now, Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane for the interim championship,” Sonnen stated. He added that he supports the promotion`s decisions, noting, “our overarching theme, our constitution itself within the sport of MMA is we fiercely adhere to the rules that we make up as we go. So, I’m on board and I like anything that ends in world championship.”
This complex heavyweight situation arose after Francis Ngannou`s departure from the UFC in 2023 while he still held the undisputed title. Jon Jones then moved up from light heavyweight and claimed the vacant belt by quickly defeating Gane at UFC 285. However, an injury forced Jones out of a scheduled defense against Stipe Miocic, leading to the creation of an interim title, which Aspinall won by defeating Alexander Volkov.
According to the source text provided, since then, both men have defended their respective titles. Aspinall reportedly avenged a previous loss by defeating Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304, while Jones is said to have beaten Miocic in their rescheduled bout at UFC 309. Despite Aspinall`s strong 8-1 UFC record, Jones has repeatedly dismissed the idea of fighting him, questioning his credentials despite having only two fights in the heavyweight division himself.
Regardless of fan desires, Sonnen claims that for the Jones vs. Aspinall fight to ever happen, Aspinall must first deliver another impressive performance.
“Not only are we going to have both [an interim and undisputed champion], we are going to contend for a second time the interim championship,” Sonnen said, highlighting the unusual circumstance. “But we’re going to do it for the first time in the presence of our undisputed champion and we may or may not be doing that in nine weeks at International Fight Weekend.”
“I’m here to tell you, according to a remarkably good source, Jon Jones is going to be afforded the ability to wait 180 days, which is equivalent to six months, which is what he asked for,” Sonnen added. “Tom Aspinall is going to fight with Ciryl Gane… And now we’re going to defend an interim champion with the existence of an undisputed champion, which is against the laws of logic and the Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of champion as well as undisputed as well as interim, but we are going to adhere to the one thing that we do consistently: We are going to closely follow the rules that we make up as we go.”
