In November 2023, Tom Aspinall officially won a temporary UFC belt in the Heavyweight weight class. It took him only 69 seconds to beat the Knock out Sergei Pavlovich in the first half. This victory also helped Aspinall are eligible to challenge belt with Jon Jones, the absolute champion of Heavyweight.
On the side of Jon Jones, he was originally arranged to protect the belt against Stipe Miocic at UFC 295. However, ligament injury caused “Bones” to take a long -term break. Facing that situation, as soon as Jones could return to the competition, Tom Aspinall would be the first opponent he had to encounter.
For that reason, Tom Aspinall has been constantly provoking Jon Jones in this time. However, Jones has almost no response. That is why Tom Aspinall said that Jones intended to avoid him, in order to stretch the time when they were officially as possible.
“We have appeared at many events together, but recently, it's hard to leave Jones. He often is about 20 meters away. I feel that I can almost can't move back to Jones to greet or meet him. Jones's coach does not allow me to do it,” Tom Aspinall said.
From being unable to talk to Jones, Tom Aspinall said that “Bones” and the coaching staff of this boxer intentionally avoided him. UFC's temporary champion added: “Jones did not want to face me, did not want to talk about the upcoming match in public. He was wise in this.”
Tom Aspinall joined UFC since 2020. He has just failed 1 match against Curtis Blaydes in July 2022. However, it was the Aspinall match forced to lose due to the unexpected knee injury in the 15th second of the first half. Most of Aspinall's matches ended very early.