For Tom Aspinall, one chapter has ended and another is just beginning.
It was confirmed last weekend by UFC boss Dana White at the organisation’s event in Baku, Azerbaijan that Jon Jones had confirmed his retirement from the sport he has dominated for the better part of two decades; a move which subsequently upgraded Aspinall’s interim heavyweight championship to the real thing.
The development finally provides clarity atop the UFC heavyweight fold which had stood in a state of limbo while the UFC attempted (and ultimately failed) to arrange a winner-takes-all showdown between Jones and Aspinall. But now with that obstacle cleared as a result of Jones’ retirement and the rest of the UFC’s stable of heavyweights now back in the title contention mix, Aspinall has vowed that he will be an active champion in a division that many would suggest has stagnated in recent years.
“I am going to keep this thing as active as possible,” Aspinall announced on his YouTube channel, as noted by MMA Fighting. “I want to be the best heavyweight ever to walk the face of the Earth. I’m going to defend this thing as many times as I possibly can.
“I’m going to keep you guys entertained and I’m really going to give back to everybody who has showed me support over the last year, over the last five years, over the last 10 years. I really appreciate the support and love from everybody. We’re going to see an active, defending UFC heavyweight undisputed champion going forward.”
Aspinall has blazed a trail through the division since making his debut for the organisation in the summer of 2020. The 32-year-old has seen the second round just once in his UFC tenure, against Andrei Arlovski in February 2021 and has been defeated a single time, though this was an injury TKO defeat to Curtis Blaydes in the opening seconds of their clash in July 2022. Aspinall would avenge that loss two years later.
It remains to be seen exactly when and where Aspinall’s first official title defence will come but the latest rankings show Frenchman Ciryl Gane as the number one contender, with Russia’s Alexander Volkov in second spot. Sergei Pavlovich, Curtis Blaydes and Jailton Almeida make up the rest of the top five.
