UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones has explained why he has no interest in fighting interim titleholder Tom Aspinall after UFC 309.

Scheduled to defend his heavyweight belt for the first time against two-time champion Stipe Miocic at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, Jones had to answer many more questions about Aspinall before the event than about his Hall of Fame-bound opponent of the UFC. .

Tom Aspinall shares his pick for Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic ahead of UFC 309

Jones and Miocic were originally scheduled to headline UFC 295 last year before “Bones” suffered a pectoral injury. After the UFC decided to put an interim heavyweight title on the line in the evening’s co-main event, Aspinall won the belt by stopping Sergei Pavlovich in just over a minute.

The promotion’s commitment to rebooking Jones against Miocic forced Aspinall to defend his interim title against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304, but unfortunately for the 31-year-old, any effort to solidify a future clash with Jones was blocked several times.

“If I’m completely honest, I feel like Tom has been such an asshole that I don’t want to do business with him,” Jones told UFC 309 Media Day. “His fans have been so annoying. And obviously you don’t get that far in a career affected by fans and whatnot, but he’s just an asshole. With his – he’s 30 years old, so he’s part of that generation of influencers where you’re jumping online, and t-shirt sales and all that. I’m past that stuff. I’m like, ‘Brother, if you had a little more respect, then maybe we could have found a solution.’ I don’t even want to do business with him.

Aspinall was quick to call for a showdown with Jones after avenging his previous loss to Blaydes at UFC 304, but fight fans have arguably been even more persistent in their efforts to convince the heavyweight champion to the UFC to sign a title unification fight.

Israel Adesanya’s bold prediction for Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic

There’s still a chance Aspinall could step in Saturday night if any of the main event fighters run into issues on weigh-in day, but as UFC 309 fight week progressed, Jones spent growing interest in a potential superfight with UFC Light Heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.

“Fighting me gives (Aspinall) the opportunity to change his life forever. And I don’t even want to give him the opportunity. He just played his cards wrong with me, personally. And I’m three years away from being a 40-year-old man, you know what I mean? It’s just like – the press conference, going through this whole thing with him, I’d rather not do it. Pereira on the other side – respectful, cool, doesn’t say much. It’s like I would do business with you. I would risk everything with a human being like you. And you actually have the accolades to back up your bullshit. This other guy is just a big mouth who is hot today.

Already a former two-division GLORY kickboxing champion before joining the UFC in 2021, Pereira won the UFC middleweight title in just his fourth fight with the promotion before later winning the vacant light heavyweight title -heavyweight at UFC 295 after Jones withdrew. of the event.

UFC 309 – Preliminary fight predictions between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic