Did Jon Jones Walk Away From a $30 Million To Fight Tom Aspinall?
In one of the most surprising revelations of the year, MMA journalist Ariel Helwani claimed on Logan Paul’s Impaulsivepodcast that Jon Jones turned down a $30 million payday to face interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall. The bout had been hyped as one of the biggest possible fights in the sport — a unification clash between two champions with very different styles and fan bases. But even with a life-changing sum on the table, the fight never happened.
According to Helwani, Jones had set a price in the $30 million range for agreeing to the matchup. While that number raised eyebrows among MMA fans, Helwani argued it wasn’t outlandish compared to what top boxing heavyweights earn. “If you compare it with what the top heavyweights are getting in boxing, that’s actually quite cheap,” he said, adding that Jones’s status in the sport more than justified the figure.
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Initially, it seemed the UFC couldn’t meet those terms. Then Saudi combat sports powerbroker Turki Alalshikh reportedly stepped in to help bridge the financial gap. With his backing, the UFC was able to match Jones’s asking price. At that point, Helwani said, Jones agreed to the fight — and for a brief moment, it looked like the super fight was finally going to happen.
But just a couple of days later, everything changed. Jones pulled out, informed the UFC he was no longer interested, and eventually announced his retirement. Helwani described it as one of the rare moments when the UFC “did everything in their power” to make a fight happen, yet still lost it at the final hurdle.
In the wake of Jones’s withdrawal, the UFC elevated Tom Aspinall to undisputed heavyweight champion. Aspinall has since made it clear he has no interest in pursuing the Jones fight, dismissing it as “boring” and labeling the constant speculation as false hope. He has instead turned his focus toward defending the title against active contenders.
For fans, the Jones-Aspinall matchup will now live in the “what could have been” category — a fight that had the money, the hype, and the opportunity, but still slipped through the sport’s fingers. And as Helwani’s comments on Impaulsivemake clear, $30 million wasn’t enough to keep Jon Jones in the Octagon.
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