‘In the Presence of Jon Jones’: UFC Legend Questions Legitimacy of Tom Aspinall’s Interim Title

With over 500 days as UFC’s interim heavyweight champion behind him, British fighter Tom Aspinall continues to find himself lobbying for a title unification fight against the undisputed incumbent, Jon Jones. And now it seems Chael Sonnen is taking the title of the interim champion away from him as well.

The UFC veteran claims that there cannot be an interim champion when there is already an undisputed champion. “This is per the dictionary. These aren’t Chael’s rules. You can go and look the word ‘interim’ up“, he says.

This is not the first time Sonnen has talked about it either. Earlier last year, he had made similar points ahead of Jones’ fight against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309. But they had fallen on deaf ears.

Hopeful, it won’t this time, Sonnen has claimed that Aspinall hasn’t been the interim champion since the moment Jones showed up for work.

“The interim champion can only exist in the absence of a champion, meaning that the moment that the bell rang for what would have been Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic – that, by definition, would have stripped Tom Aspinall of his interim championship, and that never happened, he added.

Ideally, as the undisputed champion for over 750 days, Jones should be showing up to work far more frequently. Since winning the title against Ciryl Gane at UFC 285, Jones has only fought once.

Since that day, stories of a $30 million payout being demanded by the Rochester native have been the only news on his return to the octagon.

While Aspinall claims that he has spoken to the UFC and has been assured that the fighters are almost signed, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep being positive about the prospect of a title unification fight at this point.

Especially in light of the rumor mills claiming Jones is only waiting out the 784-day record as a champion- a record previously held by the greatest UFC heavyweight of all time, Miococ.

While Sonnen didn’t offer any clarity on the subject, he did hint toward a transfer of power.

Sonnen claimed to know about the rumors that either Aspinall or Jones would be stripped of their crowns should they fail to come together for a fight.

“The problem is, you can’t strip the interim champion, because per definition, he no longer exists”, he reiterates. 

The UFC veteran even admits to having put Aspinall on the spot with his questions about legitimacy, but the interim champ seemingly brushed it aside.

“Tom said, ‘Chael, the only one I ever even hear say that I am no longer interim champion is you'”, Sonnen noted.

In the meantime, Jones has been accused of going on yet another cocaine binge by his followers.

Jones back to old habits?

Earlier last week, Jones shared something utterly aggressive but gave no hints for anyone to follow who or what he was talking about.

“The guy who was known for calling out Jon Jones, and didn’t end up being great at all“, Jones put out on his Instagram story, before deleting it in haste.

However, with over 3 million followers means there is simply no avoiding screenshots. Jones would have known that. However, the reaction to it is not something he might have expected.

“Ducking Aspinall is a weird flex” was a common sentiment on the ground.

Others soon joined in offering their expertise on their subject and said, “What a weirdo just fight Tom or retire”. 

Meanwhile, another Twitter user came to the conclusion that Jones was inebriated while on his phone, Another c**aine binge, probably,” they suspected.

Jones, meanwhile, has yet to respond to the naysayers.

Tom, on the other hand, appears to wander from channel to channel, calling out Jones, hoping that the UFC has sorted out the big bag of cash the undisputed champion is asking them for.