Tom Aspinall insists he will not ‘create any more beef’ with Jon Jones after their awkward meeting in Birmingham on Saturday.
Jones, who is the UFC heavyweight champion, and British star Aspinall, who holds the interim title, met for the first time at a sports festival held in the city.
After the pair greeted each other, Aspinall put his hand on Jones’ shoulder, only to have it quickly removed.
Jones then agreed to take a photo with Aspinall, but declined when the Briton suggested they “turn around” in the photo.
Addressing their meeting, Aspinall said JN Media: ‘We were at the same convention, so of course it makes sense to me, we have the interim champion and the undisputed champion at the same convention.
Tom Aspinall insists he ‘doesn’t want to create any more beef’ with Jon Jones after their awkward encounter
Jones moved Aspinall’s hand from his shoulder and rejected a “face-off” photo between the pair
‘But it’s kind of weird that there’s an undisputed champion and an interim champion, because undisputed means no one can challenge it, but if there’s another champion, I don’t know… it’s kind of weird the way it looks out.’
The Englishman has been campaigning to collect the titles since winning interim gold at UFC 295 in November against Sergei Pavlovich.
Jones, who won the undisputed title against Ciryl Gane last March, was set to headline the New York City card against Stipe Miocic before tearing a pectoral tendon in training camp.
Aspinall added: ‘(The interaction with Jones) was good, we had a little chat, it was all good.
‘I think he thought I put a hand on his shoulder to be disrespectful, but I wasn’t. I wasn’t there to be disrespectful, I did it in a friendly way. I don’t want to cause any more beef.
Jones won the UFC heavyweight title in March 2023 before tearing his pectoral tendon
‘I’m trying to fight the guy and take his belt, that’s what I want. I have no beef against the guy. To me, it’s just friendly, nothing crazy’.
After Jones moved the interim champions’ hand from his shoulder, he also declined a faceoff with Aspinall.
“We’re going to do this (fight) thing,” Aspinall said in the video shared on his YouTube channel. “I would love to man.”
“I would hope so,” Jones said with a smile. ‘All the best.’
“Shall we take a quick picture?” Aspinall asked. As Jones said, “sure.” After Aspinall suggested a faceoff, Jones’ expression changed as he dismissed the idea.
“Nah,” he said, shaking his head.
In Jones’ absence, Aspinall won the interim belt by beating Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295
After the interaction, Aspinall posted his reaction to meet Jones on his TikTok. He noted how he is much bigger than the heavyweight king.
“He’s all right, mate,” he said of Jones. ‘The first time I met him. He’s nowhere near as big as I thought. I thought he was a lot taller, but I guess when you fight at light-heavyweight your whole career and you’re 6’4″‘, you look really tall.
‘But I’m a full-grown heavyweight, aren’t I? He’s nowhere near as big as me, but size doesn’t really matter. We’re both big guys, but I’ll take it. I think I definitely beat him.’
Before moving into the heavyweight division, Jones ruled the light heavyweights despite being stripped and suspended on several occasions. Jones has a 27-1 MMA record, with his last 16 fights being title fights.