Tom Aspinall Admits Waiting on Jon Jones Fight is 'Difficult Mentally'

For Tom Aspinall, playing the waiting game has been more mentally taxing than recovering from a serious injury.

Aspinall blew out his knee in the opening moments of the UFC London headliner in July 2022, an injury that would sideline him for approximately a year. While that was a difficult time, the Englishman was able to return to form upon recovery, winning his next three fights inside of a round. During that time, he captured interim heavyweight gold and defended the belt once, avenging his only UFC loss against Curtis Blaydes in the process.

Since then, Aspinall has been out for nearly another year, but this time an injury is not the culprit. Instead, he’s been in limbo was he awaits a date with Jon Jones. At the moment, it’s unclear if the fight will happen at all.

Aspinall discussed the difference between coming back from an injury and waiting on a fight during an interview with Demetrious Johnson on the "MightyCast."

“Now, I’ve been almost a year inactive with no prospects of anything apart from wait,” Aspinall said. “So now it’s actually a little bit more of a tricky time for me mentally than it was then. Even people then were like, ‘Are you OK? How are you dealing with coming back?’ and stuff like that. I was like, yeah, I’m good. I’ve got this to look forward to. The doctor said I’ve got to do this in two weeks or in two months I can start grappling. I constantly had little goals to work towards. Whereas now it’s just like, ‘Just be ready and we’ll just let you know.’

“It’s kind of difficult mentally, but this is the fight against Jon Jones. The fight is another thing. This is the tricky bit where I really have to stay switched on, stay motivated, and I’m trying my best. It’s tough sometimes.”

While UFC CEO Dana White has remained confident that Jones vs. Aspinall will be booked, “Bones” has been cryptic at best, or more often, silent. In a recent post on social media, Jones stated that he informed the promotion of his plans “a long time ago,” and it is up to them to reveal those to the masses.

While that could mean any number of things, the heavyweight champion also seemed to imply a return while taunting Aspinall on his Instagram Stories:

Jon Jones via. Instagram

"What I feel like returning to the UFC after some much needed downtime." 👀👀

(via. @JonnyBones) #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/haLztKxKho

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 20, 2025

When all is said and done, Aspinall is more concerned with winning the undisputed heavyweight crown than he is with handing Jones his first true defeat.

“I honestly can see Jon’s point of view,” Aspinall said. “I get it. I get it. It’s just about the title for me. I just want the title, that’s it. Nothing else really matters. So I get it completely, get his point of view, get what everybody’s saying, completely understand. I just want to prove I’m the best, that’s all.”