Tom Aspinall's reign as the undisputed heavyweight champion already has its first challenger.
On Saturday evening, UFC CEO Dana White announced that Jon Jones retired at MMA.
As a result, the interim title of Tom Aspinall has been upgraded, making him the only king of UFC heavyweights.
Now the search for a new opponent starts after Jon Jones had chosen their super fight.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty images
Tom Aspinall called by Jailton Almeida
A collision between Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane seems to be the most likely next fight.
The two men have a simmering rivalry and Gane is one of the larger heavy -weight stars.
However, Jilton Almeida believes that he should get Aspinall for the French hunter.
The 22-3 Competer used Gane's controversial victory over Alexander Volkov and his earlier decision to 'dive' a fight with Aspinall to explain why 'Bon Gamin' does not earn a third heavyweight title shot.
“Congratulations champion,” Almeida tweeted on Saturday night.
“That deserves you. Now, let's make the only fight that makes sense! Aspinall vs Almeida for undisputed HW title of the world.
“Gane dives you and me earlier, fought before the belt and lost twice, and his last victory was a robbery.”
Congratulations champion. You earn that now, let's make the only fight that makes sense! Aspinall vs Almeida for undisputed HW title of the WorldGane Ducks You and Me earlier, already fought for the belt and lost 2 times, and his last victory was a theft @aspinallmma @danawhite @mickmoynard2 pic.twitter.com/ritrnu4ccjj
– Jailton Almeida “Malhadinho” (@malhadinho_ufc) 21 June 2025
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Jilton Almeida's title references
Almeida has been almost perfect since he became a member of the UFC with a 14-2 record in 2022.
The 33-year-old defeated Derrick Lewis and Jairzinho rose bush during a first six-fighting run in the Octagon.
However, his hype train was temporarily derailed by a second round of Ko defeat against Curtis Blaydes on UFC 299 in March 2024.
Since then, Almeida has been reflected with a successive first round stop wins on Alexander Romanov and Serghei Spivac to cement his place as the #6-ranged UFC heavyweight candidate.
It is currently unclear whether Almeida has done enough to make herself a feasible option for Aspinall.