- Tom Aspinall won the UFC interim heavyweight title with a 69-second knockout of Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295.
- Following the win, Aspinall challenged Jon Jones to a heavyweight championship unification bout.
- Online bookmakers have inserted Jones as a betting favorite over Aspinall in a potential fight.
Tom Aspinall (14-3-0) made easy work of Sergei Pavlovich (18-2-0) in New York City at UFC 295. On Saturday night, Aspinall knocked out Pavlovich in Round 1 for a thoroughly impressive victory. With a potential fight against Jon Jones (27-1-0) looming, Jones has opened as a -140 betting favorite at BetOnline.
It didn’t take long for Aspinall to finish his fight and send out a challenge to Jones. He needed just over a minute to connect to send Pavlovich into the twilight zone on the canvas. The 30-year-old Aspinall landed rights to Pavolich’s temple in the first round to put the 6-foot-3 Russian on his back.
After Pavolich dropped to the canvas, he showed no ability to defend himself and the fight was over. After the most significant win of Aspinall’s career, he wants a shot at Jones. The originally scheduled main event of the card was supposed to be champion Jones against former champion Stipe Miocic (20-4-0).
On October 25, it was announced that Jones would have to miss UFC 295 due to a torn pectoral tendon suffered during training. The injury will keep Jones out of the Octagon for roughly eight months. At this time, it was understood that Miocic would wait for Jones to heal, and then they’d fight.
Aspinall vs. Jones Could Take Precedence Over Miocic Fight
Fans were eager to see Jones and the 41-year-old Miocic dance in the Octagon at Madison Square Garden. As the two MMA legends get older, the window of opportunity for them to fight is getting smaller.
Now, is there a chance that Aspinall will jump over Miocic for a heavyweight title unification fight? According to Dana White, that isn’t happening. The UFC boss has stated that the fight between Jones and Miocic is still on as soon as ‘Bones’ is healthy.
“You do those two”, White commented on a fight between Jones and Miocic. “Those two both deserve that fight. That’s the fight they want. What I love is that Jon Jones, as soon as he was injured, and he knew how bad it was, went right to LA, got the surgery, and he’s already in rehab — physical therapy, I should say.”
However, this is far from set in stone. Jones isn’t due back for another eight months. A lot can change between now and then. After the clinic that Aspinall displayed, fight fans want to see Jones and the 30-year-old native of Salford, UK, in the Octagon next year.
As calls for this fight grow louder, it wouldn’t be out of character for White to call an audible and set up the heavyweight unification bout. White didn’t rule out Aspinall potentially defending his interim heavyweight title against another opponent in the meantime.
“I don’t know. We’ll see how that plays out. We’ll see what happens. (Aspinall) took this fight on short notice. Obviously, he looked great. He’s got plenty of money to chill out for a minute. We’ll see.”
Odds Suggest More Competitive Fight With Aspinall Over Miocic
In July, Jones was listed as a heavy -500 favorite over Miocic. As the date to UFC 295 approached, the odds dropped, but Jones still maintained a healthy advantage over Miocic, at -370.
The overwhelming odds afforded Jones an implied probability of 78.7 percent to defeat Miocic. Bettors and fans were not giving Miocic much of a chance to beat Jones.
Jones, who won the vacated UFC heavyweight title over Ciryl Gane with a guillotine choke in March, looked sharp after a three-year hiatus from the sport. However, Aspinall’s performance has people believing that he might be the best heavyweight in the world.
The Jones vs Aspinall odds indicate that a fight between these two would be much more competitive than Jones vs Miocic. At -140, Jones has an implied probability of just 58.3 percent to beat Aspinall.
