- Jones and Miocic will finally do battle at Madison Square Garden this weekend
- They were due to face off last year before Jones suffered an injury and pulled out
- The pair answered questions from the media at a pre-fight press conference
Jon Jones will have to fight Tom Aspinall next if he beats Stipe Miocic and wants to continue fighting in the UFC, according to president Dana White.
Jones will defend his heavyweight title against the two-time champion at UFC 309 in Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.
It is a bout that has been a long time in the making, with the clash originally set for UFC 295 in 2023 before Jones suffered a pectoral tear, putting him out of action for a number of months.
Regarded as a super-fight, the bout has been billed as the greatest of all time vs the greatest heavyweight of all time.
However, much of the focus during fight week has been on another man.
England’s Tom Aspinall has won and defended the UFC interim heavyweight title while Jones has been on the sidelines and many fans feel it should be him facing Bones to unify the belts this weekend.
Dana White (C) says the winner of Jon Jones (L) vs Stipe Miocic (R) should face Tom Aspinall
Aspinall has won and defended the interim heavyweight title while Jones has been injured
Jones has grown visibly frustrated by all the talk about ‘ducking’ Aspinall and has made it clear that he does not want to face the Brit, who has finished eight of his nine UFC fights.
And White addressed the issue at Thursday’s pre-fight press conference, saying Aspinall should be next for whoever comes out on top.
‘The winner should absolutely fight Tom,’ White said, drawing a roar from the thousands in attendance.
The crowd at MSG then erupted into a chant of ‘Tommy! Tommy! Tommy!’ which even drew a smile from Jones.
The packed crowd in attendance at Thursday’s press conference chanted Aspinall’s name
Heavyweight champion Jones looked amused at first before telling the crowd to ‘knock it off’
It was short-lived, however, as he proceeded to tell them to ‘knock it off’.
Many expect Jones to ride off into the sunset with a victory on Saturday but a potential Aspinall fight is growing bigger by the day.
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