Despite Tom Aspinall being the interim UFC heavyweight champion, Jon Jones has shown during UFC 309 fight week that he has absolutely no interest or intention in fighting the Brit and unifying the UFC heavyweight title.
Aspinall has been very respectful to Jones in his approach to try and get the fight against the Octagon legend. Despite this, Jones has branded Aspinall a “nobody” and is clearly getting tired and wound up of being asked questions about the potential unification bout.
Jones’ frustration with the situation has once again been shown as in newly released footage, with ‘Bones’ walking out of an interview with the UFC’s British broadcast partner, TNT Sports, due to concerns he was going to be asked Aspinall-related questions.
Jon Jones refused to do an interview with Adam from TNT Sports because of his ties with Tom Aspinall 😬
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) November 14, 2024
“Common sense tells me what type of questions I’m just going to get asked.”
🎥 @ufcontnt #UFC #MMA #UFC309pic.twitter.com/hRZ4YtkSsy
Jon Jones Walks Out of Interview With British Media Ahead of UFC 309
Jon Jones was scheduled to sit down with Adam Catterall of TNT Sports but refused to go through with the interview
Jones originally entered the media room and shook hands with Catterall. However, just as he was invited to sit down, Jones became hesitant – as though he was deep in thought. He then turned to a member of UFC staff and declared:
“Hey… I’m not going to do this interview. You know, because it’s gonna be an Aspinall-fest!”
Convinced that the British outlet were bound to bombard him with questions about the interim champion, Jones made his exit from the room. To his credit, however, the 38-year-old did at least make a point of explaning himself to Catterall in the corridor afterwards.
“I see how close you guys [Catterall and Aspinall] are and common sense tells me what type of questions I was going to get asked.”
Catterall took the rejection well, saying: “Hey. You speak to who you want to,” while shaking Jones’ hand.
Should Jones retain his UFC heavyweight crown on Saturday night, don’t expect to hear anything positive from him about an Aspinall unification bout. That he won’t even address the subject in an extended interview is a clear sign that it’s not likely to happen any time soon.