Alexander Volkanovski advocates for a Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall fight, emphasizing that Aspinall, the interim heavyweight champion, is a significant threat and deserves a unification bout, despite Jones’ interest in fighting Alex Pereira; Volkanovski predicts Jones will convincingly defeat Stipe Miocic at UFC 309.
Alexander Volkanovski is throwing his hat in the ring, backing a future showdown between Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall.
This Saturday, Jones defends his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309. But it’s Aspinall who’s been stealing the spotlight. For over a year, he’s been gunning for a fight with Jones. Originally set to clash with Miocic at UFC 295 in November 2024, Jones had to step back due to a pectoral injury. Enter Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich for an interim title bout, where Aspinall claimed victory in just 69 seconds.
Calls have since mounted for Jones to face Aspinall in a unification match, much to Jones’ annoyance. Yet, he and the UFC chose to focus on rebooking Miocic. Breaking down the main event on his YouTube channel, Volkanovski argued that if Jones beats Miocic, he must face Aspinall next.
“I’m sure Jon Jones is sick of hearing this, but the Tom Aspinall fight is the fight everyone wants to see,” Volkanovski said. “You want to be a heavyweight champion, you want to claim that crown—that might sound wrong because you did claim it. It was a vacant belt and you fought [Ciryl] Gane for it and you got it, but it’s going to be hard to convince me you’re defending champ if you don’t fight Tom Aspinall while he’s the interim champ and the biggest threat.
“Does Jon Jones even need to do this? No, he’s already got an incredible legacy. But if you want to claim the heavyweight division, so you were a proper double champ… you’ve got to fight Tom Aspinall. If you really want that on your résumé saying that I’m the best heavyweight while I was here, you have to fight Tom Aspinall. I think he is definitely the biggest threat. The wrestling, everywhere, he can be dangerous everywhere, and he’s a legit heavyweight. Explosive, fast. That’s the fight that I hope to see.”
Instead of discussing a potential bout with Aspinall, Jones has mentioned light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira as someone he’d like to face. Pereira’s rise has been meteoric—winning titles at both 185 and 205 pounds—and now he’s eyeing another division leap to become the UFC’s first triple champion.
Volkanovski sees why fans are excited about Jones vs. Pereira but still believes Aspinall deserves his shot.
“What he gets out of beating [Aspinall] would be, I think for most of us, the guys that are in the know, that would be huge,” Volkanovski said. “But when you’re talking money and things like that and star power, a win over Pereira right now would be massive. That’s probably one of the biggest fights you could do right now, so I can see why he’s pointed there, but get rid of the heavyweight belt then… The interim champ’s there; you need to fight him and that’s just how it is.”
As for how things might play out come fight night? Volkanovski’s betting on Jones to deliver. In his 29 pro bouts, Jones’ record only shows minor blemishes—a disqualification loss against Matt Hamill in a dominant performance and a no-contest with Daniel Cormier after testing positive for banned substances.
Miocic isn’t short on accolades either as he steps into Madison Square Garden. Holding the record for most successful UFC heavyweight title defenses (4), he’s knocked out legends like Daniel Cormier and Junior dos Santos. However, Miocic hasn’t fought since losing by knockout to Francis Ngannou in March 2021 and at 42 years old—his peak years may have passed.
In this legendary battle, Volkanovski predicts Jones will emerge victorious in style.
“I love Stipe, but Jon Jones is going to be too good in this one,” Volkanovski said. “You can’t bet against him, and I think it probably will be a finish. Could be a submission; could be a TKO. Do I think it’s a one-punch knockout? No. Does he hurt him? Knees to the body, just breaking him properly down—like buckle his legs or bust his ribs—just painful TKO if that makes sense.
“Like boom, boom, boom—and then trying to protect himself because he’s really hurt and the ref has to just stop it. I can see something like that happen. And I can see that happening maybe in the first few rounds; first couple of rounds even—maybe second-round TKO for Jon Jones.”