July 29, 2017; Anaheim, CA, USA; Jon Jones reacts following his TKO victory against Daniel Cormier during UFC 214 at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

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Ariel Helwani Defends Jon Jones, Blames UFC For Jones vs Aspinall Fight Delay

Ariel Helwani backs champion Jon Jones, says UFC politics are the real reason for Tom Aspinall bout delay!

July 29, 2017; Anaheim, CA, USA; Jon Jones reacts following his TKO victory against Daniel Cormier during UFC 214 at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The Jon Jones vs Tom Aspinall saga has become the most frustrating storyline in modern MMA. For over 18 months, fans have been waiting for the heavyweight title unification bout that should have been a no-brainer. Jones captured the vacant heavyweight title by submitting Ciryl Gane in March 2023, while Aspinall claimed the interim belt after Jones got injured before their originally scheduled fight. What should have been a simple next step has turned into an endless game of will-they-won’t-they that’s driving everyone crazy. The heavyweight division sits in limbo while two champions exist in the same weight class.

The situation reached a boiling point recently when an online petition demanding Jones be stripped of his title has drawn over 130,000 signatures, while Jones claims he told the UFC his plans “a long time ago”. Ariel Helwani, probably the most connected journalist in MMA, is now pointing fingers at the UFC itself for this mess. His latest take might surprise fans as he is actually defending Jones and saying the promotion is the real problem here.

Ariel Helwani Calls Out UFC’s Communication Breakdown

Helwani recently dropped a bombshell that flips the entire narrative on its head. Instead of blaming Jones for allegedly ducking Aspinall, the veteran journalist is putting the heat squarely on Dana White and company. If Jones is telling the truth about communicating his intentions, then the UFC has some serious explaining to do.

“If Jon told the UFC like 2 months ago like ‘Hey, I’m not interested.’ It’s no longer on him… He [maybe] told them 2 months ago ‘I’m out, why don’t you give Tom Aspinall a fight… The whole thing is messy. There is no sort of black and white breakdown.”

The petition to strip Jon Jones is now at 115k signatures. That's a crazy number.

I will say, if Jon told the UFC that he's not interested, that's totally fine. It's no longer on him. Strip him.

Can we just move on? No one is benefiting from this. pic.twitter.com/IhQHYF3VzD
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 28, 2025

The core of Helwani’s argument centers around Jones’ recent social media statements. He had claimed he had already communicated his decision to UFC brass. Jones himself was wondering why Dana White and the UFC had not communicated what he had told them a couple months back.This creates a weird situation where either Jones is lying about telling the UFC his plans, or the UFC is sitting on information that could end this whole drama.

Meanwhile, the petition to strip Jones has reached over 130,000 signatures. This shows just how fed up fans have become with this situation. But Helwani thinks the UFC is caught between a rock and a hard place. They don’t want to strip their biggest star and lose out on a potentially huge fight, but they also can’t keep the division frozen forever. Only time will tell what the outcome of this long back and forth would be.

(Image Credit: Gary A. Vasquez – Imagn Images)

Ariel Helwani

Jon Jones

Tom Aspinall

Zaid Quraishi

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I am a dedicated MMA and Boxing content writer at The Playoffs. I was instantly hooked on MMA after watching the fight between Lyoto Machida vs. Gegard Mousasi back in 2014, and since then, i have been an avid writer with a deep love for the sport and its techniques, providing readers with a thorough understanding of the sport. My favorite aspect of working at The Playoffs is the creative freedom it provides. The diverse range of topics, from listicles and SEO to news articles, keeps me engaged and motivates me to continuously improve my skills! I aim to capture the excitement of the combat sports world in my writing, acting as the middleman between fighters and their die-hard fans. It is kind of like a referee, but with words!