Tom Aspinall given 'guarantee' his Jon Jones dream will come true

The 31-year-old from Atherton, who trains at Wigan's Robin Park, has been interim champion for the last 13 months.

However, he has so far been frustrated in his attempts to get 37-year-old Jones - widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter of all time - into the Octagon.

That could all be about to change, though, with UFC chief Dana White confirming his intention to make the fight the world wants to see happen next year.

“I think it's probably the biggest fight in heavyweight history,” said White. “And it's a massive fight in the history of the company, too. It's a big fight."

When asked whether he could guarantee the fight would happen, he added: “Yeah. I’ll say 100 per cent.”

Jones has consistently skirted round the issue, even going as far as saying he would prefer a defence against current light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.

White, though, is not being taken in.

“So usually those guys say that s*** behind the scenes and not publicly,” White added. “Jon says that s*** publicly, but not behind the scenes.

“Jon is a very unique individual to deal with. From day one, I've been confident that Jon Jones would do that fight.

“Right. I mean, even before the fight I said, if he won, there's no way Jon doesn't do this fight.

“Jon Jones isn't afraid to fight anybody, and that's a fact…Jon Jones behind the scenes is not a guy that turns down fights.”