Alexander Volkanovski is adding his name to the list of fighters signing off on a future Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall fight.
Though Jones defends his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 this Saturday, it’s interim champion Aspinall who has claimed many of the headlines as he has pursued a fight with Jones for the past year. Jones and Miocic were originally scheduled to fight at UFC 295 in November 2024, but when a pectoral injury forced Jones out of the contest, Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich were called upon to fight for an interim title. Aspinall went on to defeat Pavlovich by 69-second knocokut.
Since then, there have been calls for Jones to fight Aspinall in a unification bout—much to Jones’ chagrin—but he and the UFC prioritized the Miocic re-booking. Breaking down the UFC 309 main event on his YouTube channel, Volkanovski made the case for Jones having to fight Aspinall should he defeat Miocic.
“I’m sure Jon Jones is sick of hearing this, but the Tom Aspinall fight is the fight everyone wants to see,” Volkanovski said. “You want to be a heavyweight champion, you want to claim that crown—that might sound wrong, because you did claim it. It was a vacant belt and you fought [Ciryl] Gane for it and you got it, but it’s going to be hard to convince me you’re defending champ if you don’t fight Tom Aspinall while he’s the interim champ and the biggest threat.
“Does Jon Jones even need to do this? No, he’s already got an incredible legacy. But if you want to claim the heavyweight division, so you were a proper double champ… you’ve got to fight Tom Aspinall. If you really want that on your résumé saying that I’m the best heavyweight while I was here, you have to fight Tom Aspinall. I think he is definitely the biggest threat. The wrestling, everywhere, he can be dangerous everywhere, and he’s a legit heavyweight. Explosive, fast. That’s the fight that I hope to see.”
Rather than discuss a potential fight with Aspinall, Jones has mentioned light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira as an opponent he’d like to face. In short time, Pereira has become one of the UFC’s most popular fighters, winning titles at 185 and 205 pounds, and flirting with the idea of jumping up one more division to become the promotion’s first triple champion.
Volkanovski sees the appeal in Jones vs. Pereira, but still wants to see interim champion get the fight that he deserves.
“What he gets out of beating [Aspinall] would be, I think for most of us, the guys that are in the know, that would be huge,” Volkanovski said. “But when you’re talking money and things like that and star power, I win over Pereira right now would be massive. That’s probably one of the biggest fights you could do right now, so I can see why he’s pointed there, but get rid of the heavyweight belt then. … The interim champ’s there, you need to fight him and that’s just how it is.”
As for how the action unfolds on fight night, Volkanovski is going with the favored Jones to take care of business. In 29 pro bouts, Jones’ only blemishes are disqualification loss to Matt Hamill in a bout that he dominated from start to finish, and a July 2017 bout with Daniel Cormier that was overturned from a Jones knockout win to a no-contest when Jones later tested positive for a banned substance.
Miocic also brings an impressive list of accolades with him to Madison Square Garden. The Cleveland native holds the record for most successful UFC heavyweight title defenses (4) and has knocked out a list of legends, including Daniel Cormier, Junior dos Santos, Fabricio Werdum, Andrei Arlovski, and Mark Hunt. However, Miocic has not competed since a knockout loss to Francis Ngannou in March 2021 and at 42 years old, his best days are behind him.
In a battle of legends, Volkanovski sees Jones coming out on top in convincing fashion.
“I love Stipe, but Jon Jones is going to be too good in this one,” Volkanovski said. “You can’t bet against him, and I think it probably will be a finish. Could be a submission, could be a TKO. Do I think it’s a one-punch knockout? No. Does he hurt him? Knees to the body, just breaking him properly down, like buckle his legs, knees, or bust his ribs, just painful TKO if that makes sense.
“Like, boom, boom, boom, and then trying to protect himself because he’s really hurt and the ref has to just stop it. I can see something like that happen. And I can see that happening maybe in the first few rounds, first couple of rounds even, maybe second-round TKO for Jon Jones.”
