Tom Aspinall aims brutal dig at Jon Jones at UFC London – with the frustrated Brit awaiting a date for the biggest fight in MMA history

UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall made a cheeky dig at his long-time rival Jon Jones during an event at the O2 Arena on Saturday.

The world’s leading MMA promotion returned to the UK this weekend for UFC Fight Night 255, headlined by former welterweight champion Leon Edwards against surging contender Sean Brady.

The event ultimately proved to be a mixed bag for the British talents on show, with both Edwards and Molly McCann suffering defeats on home soil, with the latter announcing her retirement from the sport after losing in the first round to debutant Alexia Thainara.

However, despite not featuring on the card, Aspinall continued to command the spotlight with his attempts to goad Jones into a undisputed clash.

The Salford-born star has held the interim belt since November of 2023, and defended the title by avenging his sole UFC loss to Curtis Blaydes last year.

While UFC president Dana White has insisted that a fight between Jones and Aspinall will take place in the coming months, a date is still yet to be announced.

Sitting cageside for the action on Saturday, Aspinall brandished a rubber duck to the camera when featured on the broadcast to the rapturous applause of the fans in attendance.

The 31-year-old – who holds the shortest average fight time in UFC history – later shared a screenshot of the moment accompanied by a duck emoji on his social media, garnering over 20,000 likes at the time of writing.

His dig comes amid increasing suggestions from fans that the long-running pound-for-pound great Jones is ‘ducking’ a clash with the younger and larger Aspinall.

Speaking following Jones’ decisive victory over former heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic in November, Aspinall insisted he believes a fight between himself and the American is an inevitability.

‘I think he secretly wants it,’ Aspinall told Ariel Helwani. ‘Because he has a gigantic ego, and he should have, he’s one of the best fighters ever. He hates the fact that people are saying that I could beat him, he can’t sleep at night.

‘He keeps mentioning it over and over again that he doesn’t care about me, he thinks he’s above me and all that. This is all projecting, all of it. He knows, deep down he knows and he just has to keep saying it because he has to defend himself.’

Asked if he believes he worries Jones, Aspinall added: ‘I don’t think, I know.’