Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall will unify the UFC heavyweight division in 2025.
'Bones' is fresh off a third-round knockout victory over former two-time champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November.
Then the talk immediately turned to a unification match with Tom Aspinall, who claimed an interim title during his spectacular run through the division, which included quick wins over Curtis Blaydes, Sergei Pavlovich and Alexander Volkov.
Dana White is currently working behind the scenes on what he believes could be the biggest fight in UFC history, and MMA fans are eagerly awaiting an official announcement.
Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC
Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall predicted by UFC 5 simulation
One UFC fan couldn't wait to see how Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall plays out in 2025, so they used the EA Sports video game 'UFC 5' to get an early prediction for the fight.
A YouTuber brought the heavyweight duo together and simulated the five-round affair.
As he often does, Aspinall scored an early knockdown in the AI simulation of his fight with Jones. The Englishman followed with nasty ground strikes but was unable to end the fight, which quickly became a wrestling match.
Aspinall attempted several submissions before making the mistake of falling onto his back for a triangle choke attempt that allowed his opponent to ride in top position for the first round.
The second stanza was important for Jones. The greatest fighter of all time could dominate with his wrestling, but he couldn't come close to finishing on the floor.
Round three was super competitive. Jones once again dominated on the floor, while Aspinall looked the stronger striker despite a nasty eye injury that caught the attention of the UFC 5 commentators.
In the fourth frame the roles were reversed. Jones consistently landed on his feet, but he spent much of the five minutes on his back fending off submission attempts from the BJJ Black Belt.
Jones wobbled Aspinall up top before dropping him with a body shot at the start of round five. The American followed his man to the ground, but ended up falling backwards as he tried to close the show.
As the fight got underway again with 90 seconds left, veteran referee Herb Dean stepped in to ask the cageside doctor to look at Aspinall's right eye.
It was completely swollen so the fight was disallowed and Jones claimed a TKO victory in the fifth round thanks to a controversial intervention by the UFC doctor.
Dana White guarantees a heavyweight unification fight in 2025
Jones has been honest about his distaste for fighting Aspinall. The 37-year-old fighting icon would prefer to face light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira instead, but UFC bosses have no interest in it at the moment.
Dana White recently guaranteed that Jones will fight Aspinall sometime next year.
“100 percent,” he said at a recent press conference when asked if the heavyweight unification fight is the biggest he can make in 2025. “I think this is probably the biggest fight in heavyweight history and it's a huge fight in the history of the business. , at. It's a big fight.”
The reporter pointed out that Jones was “on the fence” about fighting Aspinall before White stepped in to provide a promising update on the negotiations.
He added: “It's weird. Let me tell you what's weird about that. So usually those guys say that behind the scenes and not publicly. Jon says that in public and not behind the scenes.
“Jon is a very unique individual to be around. From day one, I had confidence that Jon Jones would take that fight. Even earlier [UFC 309] I said, 'If he won, there's no way Jon wouldn't take the fight.'
“Jon Jones is not afraid to fight anyone, and that's a fact. The only time anything weird has ever happened to Jon Jones is when his damn camp did the weird Chael Sonnen thing. “We can't fight Chael Sonnen on short notice.”
“And he wasn't, it was his team, and he listened to his team for whatever reason. But that's the craziest move in UFC history. Other than that, behind the scenes, Jon Jones is not a guy who turns down fights.”
“I say one hundred percent [the fight will happen].”
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