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Tom Aspinall trolls the UFC after announcing that he has an opponent and date for his first heavyweight title defense

Originally posted on Bloody Elbow | By Kyle Dimond | Last updated Jul 8, 2025 6:58 AM ET

Tom Aspinall is looking forward to moving on with the next stage of his career but he’s having to keep busy in the meantime.

Jon Jones has hinted at a shocking UFC return by announcing that he is back in the UFC’s testing pool after his retirement was made official just over two weeks ago.

While Aspinall claims that he knew Jones wouldn’t come back and fight him for some time, the Brit hasn’t been able to be as active as he would like.

After being promoted to the undisputed heavyweight champion, Aspinall has clarified that the belt was always his main goal, not a title unification bout with ‘Bones’.

The champion wants to keep busy through the remainder of 2025 to make up for lost time but unfortunately, he doesn’t get the final say.

Tom Aspinall bides his time by cleaning the gym while waiting for the UFC to announce his next fight

In a recent interview with Adam Catterall for One On One, Tom Aspinall stated that the wheels are starting to turn again in the UFC’s heavyweight division.

The undisputed champion met with the promotion during International Fight Week where it seems like plans were put in place for his first title defense.

Aspinall revealed that he has already been given an opponent and a date and while he isn’t in a position to announce those details, he finally has something to work towards.

“I now have a fight, which will get announced. Unfortunately, that’s not my job but at least we’ve got a date, we’ve got an opponent to work towards. Everything’s good. Very happy with that. I can finally get my career going again.”

While Aspinall referred to his next opponent as “The most dangerous guy that I’m ever going to have to fight,” both the champ and the fans are having to wait patiently for the UFC to make an announcement.

Despite the fact that he finally has what he wants, a fight to focus on, the 32-year-old is biding his time until the promotion makes their heavyweight plans public.

In a video posted on his TikTok profile, Aspinall was seen cleaning the mats at the gym alongside the caption “Waiting for the UFC to announce my next fight like…”

Tom Aspinall trolls UFC:

"Waiting for the UFC to announce my next fight."

@AspinallMMA pic.twitter.com/Bc5TddkfVT
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) July 8, 2025

Many expect Ciryl Gane to be Tom Aspinall’s first undisputed heavyweight title defense

While neither Tom Aspinall or the UFC have confirmed that Ciryl Gane will be his first challenger, the Frenchman appears to be in pole position.

The two men have been linked with fighting each other for some time but the matchup hasn’t materialized in the past several years.

In Gane’s recent activity on social media, he shared a video of him specifically working on his grappling in the gym with another post suggesting that he has also recently had some news.