LONDON – Tom Aspinall plans on getting on Jon Jones’ radar after UFC Fight Night 224.
Aspinall (12-3 MMA, 5-1 UFC) returns from a knee injury when he takes on Marcin Tybura (24-7 MMA, 11-6 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 224 main event at The O2 in London. The event streams on ESPN+.
Heavyweight champion Jones is booked to face former champion Stipe Miocic for his first title defense at UFC 295 in November, and previously has hinted that a win could signal the end of his career. Aspinall hopes he gets his chance to fight Jones, but knows he has to put on a performance that captures his attention.
“That’s my dream fight,” Aspinall told reporters at Thursday’s UFC Fight Night 224 media day. “My goal in the future moving forward is not only to win, but I want to excite Jon Jones. I want him to look at me and think (I’m a good opponent). I keep saying it in interviews and stuff, but at this point he probably doesn’t know who I am.
“He probably doesn’t, and that’s fine. But I want him to watch me fight in the next few fights and think, ‘I need to stick around for this guy.’ I want him to look at me and think, ‘I need to test myself against this guy’ and be excited about guys like me coming through and want to take that challenge.”
Despite seeing his winning streak snapped by Curtis Blaydes due to his knee injury a year ago, Aspinall’s momentum doesn’t seem to have faltered. According to BetMGM, Aspinall is a big 5-1 favorite, even if he isn’t sure why Tybura is being underestimated.
“He does a lot of things well, and I don’t understand why people are counting him out because he’s won seven of his last eight in the rankings as a heavyweight,” Aspinall said. “That’s a pretty good record, if you ask me, and he’s very durable. He doesn’t quit, which is pretty rare for a heavyweight. Usually when heavyweights start to get a little bit tired, they start to look for a way out – and he definitely doesn’t. He’s got loads and loads of experience, and I’ve taken him extremely, extremely seriously.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 224.