Magomed Ankalaev Tells Jon Jones to 'Stop Running' from Tom Aspinall

Big Ank 🤝 Big Tom

— Muhammad big ANK Ankalaev (@AnkalaevM) March 14, 2025

Magomed Ankalaev and Tom Aspinall seem to have bonded over the Jon Jones saga.

While Jones is the heavyweight champ, he has long been avoiding a matchup against interim champ Aspinall. “Bones” was even considering fighting former light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira in a super fight instead of facing Aspinall. However, Ankalaev recently ended hopes of that matchup by dethroning Pereira via unanimous decision at UFC 313 earlier this month.

Ankalaev has since named himself “Big Ank” and been unhesitant in taking shots at others. The Dagestani most recently targeted Jones, bringing up his history of failed drug tests and accusing him of ducking Aspinall. Ankalaev believes Jones isn’t happy that the Pereira matchup is now out of the equation.

“Jonny steroid machine was very disappointed,” Ankalaev wrote on X. “I beat Alex. Please fight big [Tom Aspinall]. Stop running.”

Ankalaev then shared a handshake emoji expressing a bond with Aspinall, and “Honey Badger” returned the favor by sharing the same on his Instagram stories.

Jones won the heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane in 2023 which also marked his return to action after a three-year hiatus. “Bones” was then supposed to defend it against Stipe Miocic in November 2023 but was sidelined due to an injury.

Aspinall won the interim title in the meantime against Sergei Pavlovich and defended it against Curtis Blaydes. However, Jones remained adamant on fighting Miocic, whom he beat via stoppage at UFC 309 this past November. While Jones was initially reluctant to accept the Aspinall fight, UFC CEO Dana White has remained confident the bout will happen.