UFC Legend Explains How Tom Aspinall Can Postpone Jon Jones' Retirement

Will Jones stick around to take on the newly-crowned interim heavyweight champion?

UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping has proposed a plan that he thinks will give Tom Aspinall the best chance to set up a heavyweight title unification bout with Jon Jones.

Aspinall claimed the interim heavyweight belt by knocking out Sergei Pavlovich in the first round at UFC 295, but unfortunately the 30-year-old still appears to be second in line behind Stipe Miocic for a chance at Jones’ undisputed title.

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“Bones” and Miocic were supposed to square off in the main event of UFC 295 before Jones was sidelined with an injury. UFC CEO Dana White has made it clear that the plan is to rebook that matchup as soon as possible, but Bisping doesn't expect the promotion to have Aspinall sit on his interim belt in the meantime.

Aspinall returned to action this year with a pair of first-round knockouts.  :: (Wendell Cruz/USA TODAY Sports)

“I cannot imagine for the life of me that they’ll have Tom sitting out on the sidelines for the next 18 months, or however long it’s gonna be,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “I think they’ll put him to work. I think he’ll defend the interim belt, which would just create a better narrative for Tom…I think the more times he can defend the interim championship will further generate this kind of feeling that Tom’s the man. That Tom’s the real champ.”

Interim UFC champions typically are given the next title shot in their division, although one notable exception to that was when Renan Barao defended the interim bantamweight belt twice in 2013 before being promoted to undisputed champion when Dominick Cruz had to vacate his title due to injury.

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Defending an interim belt is obviously a risky move that could jeopardize Aspinall’s hopes of fighting Jones, but Bisping believes that his fellow Englishman is in a strong position to force “Bones” to rethink his potential plans for retirement.

Jones made his heavyweight debut in March.  :: (Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

"If Jones gets past Stipe and he doesn’t retire – and again, if Tom’s out there defending that belt – I think it just makes it even harder for Jones to retire. Because people will say ‘Why are you ducking Tom? He’s out there defending that belt, you’ve gotta fight him.’ So I think the public backlash would be significant if he didn’t. And then with Tom – if he goes and defends the belt several times – that’s just gonna make that fight even bigger. It will be huge.”

Jones had already built a strong case for being considered the GOAT of MMA thanks to his lengthy reign as UFC light heavyweight champion before he made his long-awaited heavyweight debut last March at UFC 285.

The 36-year-old made short work of Ciryl Gane to claim the vacant title in his first heavyweight bout, but there’s been speculation among fans that “Bones” might like to fight Miocic and retire before he’s forced to meet the young crop of heavyweight contenders that’s currently led by Aspinall.

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