Dana White had recently stated that he was hoping to have heavyweight champion Jon Jones back in the Octagon by this summer for a title showdown against interim champ Tom Aspinall, but that looks less likely after a new update on the current situation.
“The clock is ticking on that one,” reporter Ariel Helwani said a summer date for Jones vs. Aspinall. “I was told that Jon wants six months to prepare [once] the fight is locked in.
“And what’s six months from now? September. You know, I’m sure money talks but it feels like the summer, if that is the goal, it’s starting to slip away a little bit.”
Meanwhile, Aspinall appears to be growing increasingly impatient with the constant setbacks in the negotiations to grant him his long-awaited opportunity to try to become the undisputed champion.
Aspinall had hoped that one hurdle had been overcome in recent weeks when Alex Pereira lost his light-heavyweight title to Magomed Ankalaev, which appeared to throw cold water on Jones interest in potentially fighting the Brazilian instead of him.
However, it seems that there’s always another obstacle being put in the way to hold back Aspinall, who hasn’t fought since KO’ing Curtis Blaydes in 60 seconds last July.
“‘I’ve had enough talking about it, mate,” Aspinall told JNMedia. “Honestly, I’m bored of it. We’ll see what happens, yeah, we will just see.
“I’m ready to fight whenever they tell me. So, just let me know, and I will be there.”
