Video! Jon Jones removes Tom Aspinall’s hand from his shoulder during first-time meeting: ‘Maybe one day’

Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall seem to be on course for an eventual heavyweight collision, but they’ve never even met outside of the cage. That all changed this week when the two UFC champions came face-to-face for their first official meeting.

In case you forgot, Jones is currently the reigning UFC heavyweight champion while Aspinall holds interim gold. Jones was expected to defend his title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 this past November, but a torn pectoral forced him out of action. In stepped Aspinall, who fought and absolutely destroyed Sergei Pavlovich on short notice to claim the interim strap and enter 2024 as a UFC titleholder.

While fight fans would love to see Jones and Aspinall collide inside of the Octagon to unify their belts the promotion has other plans. UFC, along with Jones, are still hellbent on making the Miocic fight happen. That has left Aspinall waiting on the sidelines as he desperately tries to stay active. He would love the chance to fight “Bones” and cement himself as the best heavyweight in the sport today, but that’s not currently in the cards.

Jones and Aspinall have traded barbs on social media over the past few months as “Bones” continues his recovery. However, outside of Jones removing Aspinall’s hand from his shoulder, the two remained relatively cordial during their chance meeting earlier this week. They traded pleasantries before Jones murmured “maybe one day” regarding a potential fight.

Check it out in the above video player and more footage below:

After their meeting, Aspinall took to social media to discuss his first encounter with one of the greatest fighters of all time. The confident interim champion believes he would be able to defeat Jones inside of the cage after sizing him up for the first time in person.

“He’s nowhere near as big as I thought,” said Aspinall.

“I’ll take him. I think I’d beat him.”

So, Maniacs? What did you make of Jones and Aspinall coming face-to-face for the very first time?

Sound off!