Dana White has been confidently telling the media for some time that a long-awaited heavyweight title clash between Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall will happen, and now he’s explained why.
“Yeah, I mean, I’ve been saying it since the beginning. Jon Jones agreed to do the fight. So, Jon Jones was offered the deal and accepted the deal,” White told reporters after UFC 316 on Saturday night.
“Jon agreed to fight Tom, yes. [But he hasn’t signed a contract].
“I mean, you guys have heard me for the last however long. I said I guarantee you this fight’s going to happen, fight’s going to happen.”
“You guys told me the crazy sh*t that was going on on Instagram and all these other places. But yes, I’ve been saying [that] Jon is going to fight Tom.”
Nevertheless, there’s been a lot of unease about the situation among fans lately, with Jones at times appearing to tease the possibility of retiring instead, but White has advised them not to put too much stock in that.
“Unless you hear it come from here or we put out a press release, don’t believe any of this bullsh*t,” White suggested.
White also said that there’s always an art to the deal when negotiating a fight contract with Jones, which means it takes time to put together.
“It’s definitely the process with Jon Jones,” White said. “[We’ve] been going through this since the day he started here. Yeah, it’s definitely the process.
“Him and Anderson Silva, every time, you know, throughout the history of being in business with those guys, when it comes time to get them a fight, it’s like dealing with artists. It’s interesting.”
Tom Aspinall has since responded to the latest news, and suggested that as far as he knows the fight is still in the works.
“I think a lot of people come out and they see what I’ve said and they think it’s some kind of media stuff,” Aspinall said on his YouTube channel. “Listen, I don’t do that kind of stuff. If I’m going to come out and say something, it’s going to be informed information.
“As I’ve said a couple of times, not for me to say. That’s beyond my pay grade, I don’t announce no fights, I don’t announce no UFC news or nothing like that. But there is some coming, there’s definitely some coming. Dana White says I’m his man, we love that. And I’m going to go and prove that pretty soon, so it’s coming.”
