Tom Aspinall obliged a novel autograph request forward of UFC 309.
The interim heavyweight champion is in New York for struggle week as he prepares to weigh in because the backup for Saturday’s primary occasion that includes Jon Jones defending his share of the heavyweight title in opposition to Stipe Miocic. Within the lead-up to the struggle, a lot has been product of Aspinall’s makes an attempt to safe a future unification bout with Jones or Miocic, with neither committing to competing once more after this weekend a lot much less guaranteeing they’ll struggle Aspinall.
Throughout his go to to “The Huge Apple,” Aspinall had a humorous interplay with a fan sympathetic to the trigger. Aspinall posted a video to his Instagram Tales displaying the fan asking him to signal a rubber duck that simply so occurred to have Jones’ identify on it, a reference to Jones “ducking” the British star.
Watch the scene beneath (h/t Championship Rounds).
“Wild place New York,” Aspinall wrote on the video.
Although Jones and Aspinall aren’t scheduled to struggle, tensions between the 2 have been at an all-time excessive. Jones—the best fighter within the historical past of the sunshine heavyweight division and arguably one of the best pound-for-pound fighter of all time—gained a vacant heavyweight title with a dominant submission of Ciryl Gane at UFC 285, however was unable to defend his title in a scheduled bout in opposition to Miocic at UFC 295 after struggling a pectoral harm.
In Jones’ absence, Aspinall defeated Sergei Pavlovich to assert an interim title and has already efficiently defended it as soon as, whereas Jones and Miocic have remained targeted on their duel that was re-booked for Nov. 16.
Jones has given a lot of causes for not acknowledging Aspinall’s suggestion of a unification bout, most not too long ago saying Aspinall is “such an assh*le that I don’t need to do enterprise with him.”