Tom Aspinall: 'Jon Jones is retired and it's time to move on'

Interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall declared himself the undisputed heavyweight titleholder and says he has a date and location for his octagon return, 

"Jon Jones retired," Aspinall said on the Good Guy / Bad Guy podcast. "You guys don't follow Jon on social media? 

"The guy is living his best life. He's had a fantastic career, we all know. We know Jon's a religious man, so I want to say God bless him moving forward in what he does in his life and his career and we move on. We move on. I'm the undisputed champion of the world. I'm ready to take on all comers, get the division moving again. Those guys have been waiting around too long. The contenders are getting sick of it. Everybody is getting sick of it. Even the fans are getting sick of this stuff. Jon's retired and it's time to move on."

Jones hasn't officially announced whether he's retired but has mentioned that retirement is an option. Aspinall maintains that once a fighter begins talking about retiring, he's essentially retired.     

"If one guy is thinking about retiring, he's retired," Aspinall said. "I ain't thinking about retiring. I'm thinking about getting this division active, making the heavyweight division great again, getting these big fights in, fighting these contenders who have sat on the sidelines waiting for over a year at this point. I'm here to fight."

Aspinall isn't chasing a fight with Jon Jones. He wants the opportunity to fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship whether that's against Jones or someone else. 

"I'm not looking to fight Jon Jones. I'm looking to fight for that undisputed heavyweight champion. That's what I want to be. I want to be the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion," Aspinall said. 

"I'm not waiting for one fight. I'm not trying to fight one guy. I'm trying to fight all of the guys. I'm trying to be the guy at heavyweight that takes out everybody, and it doesn't matter who it is."  

Aspinall teased that his next opponent will be announced soon. 

"I'll tell you something, I've got a date and location. I've got a date and location," he said.