Interim UFC heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall basked in Dana White's spin on the UFC's pound-for-pound debate.
Tom Aspinall is in active negotiations to face UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones in a title unification bout later this year. While nothing is official at the time of writing, both sides are optimistic that a deal will be finalized in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, Aspinall remains behind Jones and others in the UFC's pound-for-pound rankings. Arguably the greatest UFC fighter of all time, Jones has repeatedly been UFC CEO Dana White's choice for the deserving pound-for-pound No. 1 spot.
White previously attacked anyone with a dissenting opinion on the pound-for-pound rankings, especially those who ranked Islam Makhachev over Jones for the No. 1 spot. However, White turned a big corner after Makhachev's dominant win over Renato Moicano to set the UFC lightweight title defense record at UFC 311.
White credited Makhachev as the deserving pound-for-pound king after UFC 311, undoing months of his previous stance. Aspinall, a big supporter of Makhachev, found White's reversal after UFC 311 hilarious.
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Tom Aspinall laughs at Dana White's 'jumping ship' in P4P pose
In a recent upload to his YouTube channel, Aspinall responded to White's stunning confession.
“Now we see Dana White come out and say that [Islam] is the pound-for-pound number 1 in the world, Islam Makhachev!” Aspinall said. “As we all know, pound-for-pound to me is a lot of made-up stuff. I don't look at that, but it's just funny that he's now kind of gone from Jon Jones to Islam.
“Islam did what it had to do. Went out there and fought everyone put in front of him, and that's what a champion is supposed to do. He got the win and he's above everyone else in that division. He will hold the belt for a long time, and that is something I am very excited about because I am a huge Islam Makhachev fan.”
When Makhachev heard about White's post-fight comments, he was excited about the long-deserved support from the UFC kingpin. His five UFC lightweight title defenses are the most in promotion history, ahead of Khabib Nurmagomedov, BJ Penn and Benson Henderson.
At the time of writing, Aspinall is ranked No. 8 in the latest UFC pound-for-pound rankings, although that could change after Tuesday's update. A win over Jones would catapult him higher up the ladder.
Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall is in active negotiations
Aspinall recently knocked out Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in his only interim title defense. He avenged an earlier injury defeat suffered by Blaydes in 2022 and recorded recent victories over Marcin Tybura and Sergei Pavlovich.
Jones made his first UFC heavyweight title defense against Stipe Miocic in November, winning by TKO at UFC 309. He captured the then-vacant UFC heavyweight championship by submitting Ciryl Gane at UFC 285.
Aspinall and Jones are on a collision course for later in 2025, and their heavyweight fight will be about much more than the straight-line title. After White's pivot, Aspinall has the chance to join Makhachev in the pound-for-pound debate.
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