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Legendary UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones appears to have little interest in taking on interim title holder Tom Aspinall and unifying the division. Jones, who dominated the light-heavyweight division for years before moving up to 265lb last year, won the belt at UFC 285 in March of 2023. He was due to defend his title against Stipe Miocic, but suffered a torn pec that required surgery and extensive rehabilitation. In the meantime, Aspinall was booked against Sergei Pavlovich for the interim belt which he won within just under 80 seconds. Since then, the Brit has been pursuing a clash with Jones to unify the division, while his rival seems generally uninterested in such a prospect. Instead of a title unification with Tom Aspinall, Jon Jones appears instead to be keen on an historic meeting with Alex Pereira. The Brazilian has blitzed through the sport of MMA and won UFC middleweight and light-heavyweight gold within just 12 fights. Pereira's wins over the likes of Israel Adesanya, Sean Strickland and Jiri Prochazka have turned him into a major star. He has headlined a number of major events including the Madison Square Garden event where Aspinall became interim champion. And Jones feels that it would be the bigger fight of the two for his legacy, telling fans on Twitter: "You actually think me fighting Tom would be more massive than Alex and I colliding? Tom only matters in the UK, newsflash. You actually think me fighting Tom would be more massive than Alex and I colliding? Tom only matters in the UK, newsflash. Pereira is one of the most polarizing figures this sport has seen. Toms a contender who won a belt against another contender. We had to save Madison Square… https://t.co/JatZed5UUO View Tweet "Pereira is one of the most polarizing figures this sport has seen. Toms a contender who won a belt against another contender. We had to save Madison Square Gardens main event. "I'm thinking dollar signs, legacy, big picture here. Not what UK fans are dying to see. Literally just went through this with the French fans." It appears that Aspinall has been aware of how Jones feels about him since the pair ran into each other at an event in the UK earlier this year. He attempted to organise a face-off between them, but was turned down by Jones after allegedly being warned not to even approach the UFC legend. "I wanted to face off," Aspinall said during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour. "Jon's smart… Jon will not say anywhere, you can't find it, it's not out there, that he will fight me. He won't say it anywhere publicly. He won't say it. "You can't find a clip, a quote, nothing, anywhere, of Jon Jones saying, 'One day I'm going to fight Tom Aspinall, and I'm going to freaking beat the brakes off him. That's what I'm going to do.' That doesn't exist. "He doesn't want any evidence, anywhere, of him agreeing to any kind of fight with me, because he doesn't want to go back on that. He doesn't want to do a faceoff because that promotes a potential fight. "When I ask him, 'Jon are we going to do this?' He doesn't say, 'Absolutely. Let me get Stipe out of the way and we'll do it.' He'll instead say, 'Oh, maybe one day.' Because he doesn't want that quote of, 'We're going to fight one day.' It's super smart." Related TopicsJon Jones wants Alex Pereira in historic 'three belt' fight ahead of Tom Aspinall
Tom Aspinall feels Jon Jones has 'no interest' in unification fight
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