Jon Jones continues to emit mixed messages about the prospect of a fight with Tom Aspinall, 18 months after it was first mooted.

Despite Jones holding the regular UFC heavyweight title and Aspinall owning the interim belt, a dynamic that has existed since November 2023, the pair are yet to have a bout booked.

Britain’s Aspinall claimed the interim title by knocking out Sergei Pavlovich, as the pair stepped up after Jones sustained an injury that thwarted his planned defence against Stipe Miocic. That all-American match-up finally materialised 12 months later, in November 2024, with Jones stopping the divisional great – but only after Aspinall defended and retained the interim strap in July, a rare move in the UFC.

Jones, 37, and Aspinall, 32, have therefore been poised for a unification fight for six months, yet “Bones” continues to toy with Aspinall.

On Tuesday (20 May), footage emerged of Jones saying, “I’m done,” while seemingly on a video call with an old friend, who joked that the former light-heavyweight king could go on for another “10 years”.

Yet on the same day, Jones posted an Instagram story of a video captioned: “Have you ever seen a dog correct another dog like this?” The clip shows a dog incessantly barking at another, before a third dog arrives and instantly causes the vocal canine to become submissive. “What I feel like returning to the UFC after some much needed downtime,” Jones wrote.

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This online activity followed a series of tweets from Jones on Sunday (18 May), when the controversial American hit back at fans. He wrote: “Yall barkin up the wrong tree, I told the Ufc my plans a long time ago. I have no clue why they haven’t shared them with you guys yet.

“Lol do I come across as the type of person who cares about things like [being stripped of the title] […] This, this attitude, right here is making me a very wealthy man. This desperation [from fans] is incredibly lucrative, so thank you. Keep it coming.”

With the UFC having announced main events for its pay-per-views in June, July and August, as well as a Mexican-centric event in September, Jones vs Aspinall is unlikely to happen before October. UFC president Dana White did vow last week that he would soon announce the bout, but fans continue to await such an announcement.

While some fans view Jones as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, his career has been marred by numerous failed drug tests and run-ins with the law. Still, the American is effectively unbeaten, with his sole loss having come via DQ in 2009.

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Meanwhile, Aspinall is 15-3 in MMA and 8-1 in the UFC. In the promotion, his only defeat occurred due to injury, while all of his career finishes have come via stoppage.

In the UFC, Aspinall holds the record for the shortest fight time of an athlete with five or more bouts; all of his wins in the promotion have come in the first two rounds – seven in round one, two in the first minute.

Aspinall’s decision to defend the interim belt was a rarity in the UFC, as the Wigan heavyweight aimed to stay active during Jones’s absence. In that fight, Aspinall stopped Curtis Blaydes in 60 seconds, avenging his injury-induced loss to the American in 2022.