Tom Aspinall makes bold Jon Jones prediction after New York City scouting mission

The 31-year-old from Atherton, who trains at Wigan's Robin Park, has been interim heavyweight champion for just over 12 months.

He stepped up at one week's notice last November to dismantle Sergei Pavlovich, after Jones had damaged a pectoral muscle during training for his scheduled title against Stipe Miocic.

Jones ended the career of Miocic at the weekend to remain champion, with his next defence seemingly being a unification fight against Aspinall.

However, the 38-year-old American has been reluctant to commit to facing Aspinall, despite UFC chief Dana White strongly hinting in the aftermath of Saturday's event that it was on the cards.

And the way the fans in New York City's Madison Square Garden reacted whenever Aspinall's face was shown on the big screen - while ignoring Jones' post-fight call for a defence against light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira - showed public opinion is with the Brit.

"It's been great, and I've not had to do anything to push it," said Aspinall. "Even when Jon Jones was in the octagon at the end, he started talking about retirement, he started talking about Alex Pereira...and nothing from the crowd.

"He mentioned my name, and the whole place erupted. I've already spoken to the UFC top brass, I'll be speaking to them again, but in my opinion - and obviously I'm biased - this would be the biggest fight in history. It's what the people want...and it's what I want.

"When Jon Jones was doing his speech at the end of the fight, I looked straight over to the UFC top brass, Dana and Hunter (Campbell, Chief Business Officer), and both of them pointed at me and winked at the same time.

"To me, that says there's something big in the pipeline. This is the biggest fight out there, and if that doesn't interest Jon Jones, then I don't know what else we can do.

"Everybody knows this is the fight to make, this is the fight the people want to see, this is the fight the UFC bosses want...everyone knows this is the fight that has to happen."

Aspinall was officially present in the Big Apple as the nominated 'back-up fighter' - effectively 'on-call' should anyone on the bill be forced to pull out.

It wasn't an experience he says he'd be looking to repeat.

"I wouldn't do it again, I don't want to be a back-up fighter again," he said. "The closer it got to fight time, the more I thought: 'Oh my God, what if I actually have to fight someone tonight?'

"All it needed was someone to get sick, someone to roll an ankle, and I was in...that was very stressful."

That said, it afforded him a ringside seat for Jones-Miocic - and Aspinall says he came away encouraged from the scouting mission.

"I've only ever seen Jon Jones fighting on the TV before, this is the first time I've seen him up close," he said. "And you couldn't have got any closer, I was probably an arm's length away from the octagon.

"It is so different to watching it on TV and watching it up close, and I am so happy I was able to get an up-close version of what Jon Jones looks like.

"I saw everything...I definitely saw openings...whether I would be able to do anything about it, I don't know. But from the outside looking in...I think I can."

Aspinall also opened up on a meteoric couple of years that's seen him go from zero - when he sustained a serious knee injury against Curtis Blaydes in the summer of 2022, which sidelined him for a year - to hero.

"My mentality changed...when I wrecked my knee, I rebuilt myself mentally and physically," he added. "It was a time where I really had to reevaluate whether I wanted to be in this sport or not.

"Up to that point, I was sort of one foot in the sport, and one foot out. I had to decide whether to take both feet out, or dive straight in...and I decided to dive straight in, which meant completely changing my lifestyle.

"I was determined to be the best heavyweight walking around planet earth. I know I am that, I just need the opportunity to prove it...because I know I can beat Jon Jones."

Jones, meanwhile, used his own post-fight press conference to further bait Aspinall, whom he recently labelled ‘an a**hole’.

He was also asked to clarify why he made that comment.

“Coming up with Jon Jones t-shirts, buying a little duck, just the little s**t that he does,” said Jones. “He’s annoying to me.

“I get to you guys, you find it entertaining, but I find him annoying. I just don’t like him.

“At the end of the day, if I give him the opportunity to fight me, I want to be so compensated, I’m gonna say it, I want that ‘f**k you’ money, honestly.

“My life is perfect without him; I don’t need him at all. He needs me, and that’s a good place to be in a negotiation.

“I’m not really worried about the Tom fight. I’m really worried about the Alex Pereira fight. That’s what I want to do.

"I’ll retire the heavyweight belt if I have to. Give the guy what he wants at the end of the day.

"I want to take what I find to be superfights. I don’t want to fight dangerous up-and-comers anymore. I want to fight dangerous established champions.

"So Tom can have the heavyweight championship, I don’t really care about it. My value doesn’t lie in belts anymore. I’ve created something bigger. I want Pereira.”