Aspinall announces he has ‘a date and location’ for next fight

There may finally be movement coming to the UFC heavyweight division, but it’s probably not the kind of movement many fans were hoping to see.

There hasn’t been much of anything going on at heavyweight since champion Jon Jones beat former champion Stipe Miocic in a largely meaningless title fight back in November 2024. Since then there’s been a lot of talk about Jones fighting interim champion Tom Aspinall … from everyone but Jones himself.

Jones has been conspicuously reluctant to confirm anything about his fighting future. One day he’s saying he’s done, the next he says he’s semi-retired. In a random Instagram comments section he’ll say he’s fighting next year. “Unpredictable” is the way Aspinall described Jones, and now the UK heavyweight sounds like he’s moving on from “Bones.”

@espnmma #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/frrNGcWdma

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) June 2, 2025

headed to Thailand to film a reality show that the UFC was looking to have Aspinall defend his interim title again. The obvious opponent would be Ciryl Gane, as the two have some heat. And the obvious date would be in September, where more reports have the UFC returning to France.

That event was originally expected to be a Fight Night, but with the UFC’s original September pay-per-view in Guadalajara moving to San Antonio and being downgraded to a Fight Night, anything is possible. We’ll keep you updated as this story develops.