Chael Sonnen recently shed light on how his former rival Jon Jones’ latest fight negotiation-related phone call with the UFC brass allegedly went. “The Bad Guy” also cleared the air on rumors of Jones supposedly evading/ducking his long-awaited fight against Tom Aspinall.
Chael Sonnen’s Breakdown of How Jon Jones’ Negotiation With the UFC Likely Played Out
In a recent edition of ESPN MMA’s “Good Guy/Bad Guy” podcast, MMA great Daniel Cormier and UFC star-turned-analyst Chael Sonnen discussed reigning UFC Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones’ next fight. They alluded to the rumors that Jones could face interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall during the UFC’s International Fight Week in June 2025.
Cormier questioned whether Sonnen was breaking the news that the Jones-Aspinall fight would take place during International Fight Week. “The Bad Guy” responded, saying that he wasn’t officially announcing the fight’s timeline. However, he indicated that Jones had supposedly agreed to the UFC’s choice of opponent in their phone call.
“I am confident enough to tell you that that fight [Jones vs. Aspinall] is done, though,” Sonnen stated. “That fight is agreed all the way down to the date. That I do have the confidence to tell you … I’m telling you. This Jon Jones business. Jones will say a lot of things to the media. When he gets that phone call, ‘Here’s the guy that you’re fighting. Do you understand?’ ‘Yes.’ And that is what he will say. All the other reports are not true.”
Sonnen then jestingly suggested that he’d have loved it if Jones had turned down the Aspinall matchup, so that he’d have had the opportunity to “bury” him, thereby alluding to their own feud from back in the day. He emphasized, however, that “Bones” hasn’t ducked Aspinall.
“Jon has come out, he’s been a troll, he’s had some fun, he even tried to negotiate the media.” Sonnen added, “Privately, he takes that phone call. It’s yes or anything else that comes out of his mouth. Any answer that’s not yes is not yes. But that did not happen. That is a false report. Jon Jones has not ducked this fight. I wish he did. I’d love to bury him. He didn’t. He did not duck Tom Aspinall.”
Incidentally, speaking on his YouTube channel, Aspinall recently asserted that he’d been “sworn to secrecy” about the news of his next fight. Nevertheless, he’s hinted that a major announcement could be on the horizon.
The interim heavyweight titlist has long been lobbying for a title unification fight against “Bones.” Meanwhile, Jones has often jibed at Aspinall and questioned whether the Englishman is a worthy opponent for a megastar like him at this point in his storied MMA career.
The much-discussed potential heavyweight superfight between Jones and Alex Pereira fell apart when the latter lost his UFC light heavyweight title after being outpointed by Magomed Ankalaev earlier this year. Since then, the consensus has been that Jones’ next fight would most likely be a UFC heavyweight title unifier against Aspinall, ideally in 2025.