UFC fans have lost interest in Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall, says MMA legend

Do UFC fans no longer care about whether or not Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall happens?

The wait continues for some movement in the heavyweight title picture. While Jones is enjoying his time in Thailand for a reality show, Aspinall is left to wonder what’s next. Both men have held UFC gold since 2023, with Aspinall laying claim to the interim title. Near the halfway point of 2025, there is still no answer on when there will be an undisputed UFC heavyweight title fight.

One current analyst and UFC Hall of Famer (fight wing) believes fans have lost interest.

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Jones vs. Aspinall Interest Is “Bombing”

During an interview with Mike Bohn of MMAJunkie, Chael Sonnen said that interest in a possible matchup between Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall has waned significantly.

“I love the business side of the sport,” Sonnen said. “I’m fascinated by it. I have never personally witnessed. I’ve had big fights that we’ve wanted and we’ve had to wait for. They had to be negotiated, or renegotiated. But 100 percent of them, we did want those fights more. It did serve as a promotion. This is just not the case. I can’t even make money with these guys. On my YouTube channel, I’m not only audited, I’m publicly audited. You can see what the people are writing. I am bombing. If I put Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall in a thumbnail, I bomb.

“People are not caring about this fight. I have different guesses why. I hypothesize that the audience doesn’t want to get too behind something they are not confident they can get. I think that’s part of it. But I’m telling you, as this fight has gone on, unlike other fights, it’s not getting bigger. It has gotten smaller. People are caring less and less. I don’t know if you have a pen, you sign a bout agreement, you cut to SportsCenter and make the big announcement. I don’t know if you can flip that. I’m just telling you in my life I’ve seen this happen many times. Boxing and even in some wrestling stuff, and it grew. This fight is going the other direction.”

Aspinall has said that he simply wants to fight again, whether it’s against “Bones” or not. Aspinall’s own father has expressed frustration, believing that his son’s prime is being wasted. While the interim champion recently teased “heavyweight news” on social media, he made it clear that an announcement on his next fight will be made by the UFC, not him.