Tom Aspinall: Chael Sonnen weighs in on petition to strip Jon Jones, shares thoughts on Tom Aspinall showdown

Chael Sonnen recently weighed in on the controversy happening at the top of the UFC's heavyweight division, as a petition to strip the title from Jon Jones has hit over 150,000 signatures.

'Bones' has been the heavyweight champion since March 2023, defeating Ciryl Gane to win the vacant belt. He is now approaching the record of being the longest serving champion in the divison's history, however, he has only defended the title once, picking up a dominant win over Stipe Miocic last November.

The contention around Jones' status as the champion is due to the rise of Tom Aspinall. During Jones' reign as the heavyweight kingpin, he suffered a pectoral injury that kept him out of action for over a year. In his absence, Aspinall won the interim title with a win over Sergei Pavlovich and has defended the belt against Curtis Blaydes.

While many would expect Jones vs. Aspinall to be next, the American has dismissed the potential fight on several occasions. Jones' alleged avoidance of facing Aspinall has led to much fan frustration and resulted in a petition on Change.org to see him stripped of the title, which currently has nearly 169,000 signatures.

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With the fight still up in the air, Sonnen has offered his take on the situation. According to 'The American Gangster', despite the fan outcry, he still expects the fight to happen. He said:

"Over 100,000 UFC fans have signed a petition to strip Jon Jones of the heavyweight title. I just have to remind you, I don't believe he's ever said he wouldn't do it [fight Aspinall]...Whatever Jon has said on a phone call [to the UFC] stays right there. That's called nice Dana...[but] you will know when bad Dana arrives. When we hear some of the phonecalls...Either way, we're going to see Jon and Tom fight."

Check out Sonnen's comments below:

Jon Jones reflects on his love of MMA

Jon Jones recently reflected on his MMA career and his love for the sport during an appearance on the latest episode of the DeepCut with VicBlends podcast.

When asked if he still loves the sport, despite approaching the twilight of his fighting career, the heavyweight champion said:

"Do I love the game? I'll always love MMA. Somehow, the universe made me one of the best at it, so I'll always love it. I'll always love it. It will always will be there. It changed my life. It gave me an opportunity to change my branch in my family tree, and so I'll always be greatly indebted to the sport."

Check out Jones' comments below (1:15:30):

About the author

Will began his tenure at Sportskeeda as an MMA writer over 2 years ago and has penned over 1800 pieces so far, including 35+ exclusives, which have garnered close to 5 million views.

Will graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Media and Communications from Bournemouth University, where he was also a valued member of their communications team. His degree heavily focused on social media and writing, which eventually led him toward sports writing.

He turned into an MMA fan after witnessing Conor McGregor’s 13-second TKO win over Jose Aldo at UFC 194 in 2015. The Irishman sits at the top of his list of top-five MMA fighters of all time, which also includes world champions like Demetrious Johnson, Michael Bisping, Max Holloway, and Georges St-Pierre.

Will especially enjoys working on event days and feels his contribution to Sportskeeda’s UFC 300 coverage was one of the high points of his time with the organization. He ensures his articles are accurate by going through multiple sources, which also helps his writing be as informative as possible.

His interests away from work include football, gaming, live streaming, and listening to music.

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Edited by C. Naik