Tom Aspinall breaks silence on £40million Jon | Boxing News

Tom Aspinall has defended his rival Jon Jones amid claims the UFC heavyweight champion is demanding a whopping $50million (£40m) to struggle him. The two fighters appear close to finalising a deal for a match this yr after months of anticipation.

Jones had beforehand hinted at retirement earlier than his title defence towards Stipe Miocic final November. However, he introduced his resolution to remain within the promotion shortly after successful the dust-up. Aspinall hasn’t stepped into the ring since his interim title defence towards Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in Manchester final July. He has made it clear that he has no plans to defend his strap again.

Over the previous few months, there have been rumours that Jones is demanding a hefty sum to face the Mancunian within the cage. Earlier this yr, UFC commentator Joe Rogan needed to publicly retract his assertion claiming that Jones was asking for $30m to struggle Aspinall. In a latest episode of Red Hawk Recap, UFC star Colby Covington expressed his perception that Jones’s financial calls for are unrealistic and predicted that he would retire earlier than ever dealing with Aspinall.

Covington said: “I don’t think Jon is fighting him. I think he’s going to duck him and go into retirement… he’s trying to ask for an unreasonable price. You can’t be asking for $40–$50million when you don’t draw money to the company like that.” Aspinall himself just lately responded to Covington’s feedback.

The interim heavyweight champ Aspinall, whereas on the Ariel Helwani Show, commented on the speculated $50m determine being linked with Jon Jones’ return. Surprising many, the Brit supported Jones’ financial expectations: “I agree with the notion that he deserves every penny that he makes. He has done everything.”

In the identical chat, Aspinall supplied an replace on potential talks for a bout with Jones. Following a productive assembly alongside UFC’s chief business officer, Hunter Campbell, Aspinall shared with Ariel Helwani: “We had a nice meal, and we talked everything through,” including, “[UFC CBO] Hunter [Campbell] has always been extremely personable and reasonable with me. I can’t say what he’s like with other people, I don’t know, but with me and my team, he’s been nothing but hospitable and fantastic. We had a fantastic meeting. Everything went amazing, and I understand my position now. I understand what the company’s doing now, and you’ve got to stay tuned, my friend. There’s some big news coming.

“I really feel like we’re in a great place proper now. I realise I’m a skilled MMA fighter, UFC fighter, and we’re doing all this media stuff recently, it is gone rather well. The YouTube channel is flying, social media’s flying, every little thing’s going actually, rather well with that, which is nice. That’s actually, very nice, however at the start, I like combating people. That’s what I love to do. If I’m not doing that, I really feel a little bit – that is simply what I love to do. I like to do this. That’s essentially the most important for me, and I’ve not been doing that during the last seven months.

“After the meeting, I’m feeling very optimistic about things. I’m in a really, really good spot with everything and my future moving forward. I think it’s exciting times, man. Really exciting times. The break [waiting for Jones’ decision], it’s not a massive break, to be honest. People are saying, ‘Oh, Jon Jones is holding up your career,’ and stuff. It’s only been seven months. It’s not too bad. I don’t want to say too much, but exciting stuff is in the future, for sure.”