Interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall believes he is the next Jon Jones after receiving a signal from UFC executives.

After stopping Stipe Miocic with a vicious back kick to the body in the main event of UFC 309Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) took the mic with Joe Rogan and revealed he plans to continue fighting, putting retirement rumors to rest.

Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC), who was listed as a backup option for the fight, watched Jones handle business from the cage and also listened intently to Jones’ words on the mic. When he heard his name mentioned, Aspinall said he made eye contact with Dana White and Hunter Campbell.

“When Jon Jones was giving his speech, I was looking directly at the UFC executives, Dana and Hunter,” Aspinall said on ESPN’s post-fight show. “They both turned to me at the same time, pointed at me and winked. At the same time. So to me, that means there’s something important in preparation.”

After sitting around all fight week, unsure if his services as a replacement fighter would be needed at the last moment, Aspinall leaves New York with more confidence than the next time he and Jones step into the octagon, this will be to unify the heavyweight. title.

Combined with White’s insistence that the winner of the UFC 309 main event would face Aspinall nextthe Englishman believes he is well placed for the opportunity to prove he is the best heavyweight in the world.

“It’s huge,” Aspinall said. “This is potentially one of the biggest fights in MMA right now. If Jon Jones isn’t interested in this, then I don’t know what else we can do. Everyone knows this is the “This is the fight that the UFC wants, this is the fight that the fans want, and this is the fight that needs to happen now. “

Related

UFC 309 social media reactions: Jon Jones’ title defense against Stipe Miocic leads to calls for Tom Aspinall to unify

Is Jon Jones officially dodging Tom Aspinall? ‘He is. It definitely is.

UFC Heavyweight Title History: Mark Coleman, Stipe Miocic, Tom Aspinall and More

This article was originally published on MMA Junkie: Tom Aspinall reveals reasons for his confidence in Jon Jones’ upcoming UFC title unification fight