UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has voiced strong support for Jon Jones amid the latter's contract dispute with UFC CEO Dana White over the June 14, 2026, White House event. Aspinall questions why the promotion isn't offering Jones the financial respect he deserves, citing past high-value offers.
As detailed in prior coverage of Jon Jones' public request for release from his UFC contract following his exclusion from the historic "UFC Freedom 250: The White House" card, tensions between Jones and Dana White continue to escalate.
Current champion Tom Aspinall, appearing on "The Ariel Helwani Show," surprised fans by defending his would-be unification opponent. Aspinall waited over a year for a title bout with Jones, who vacated the heavyweight belt upon retiring in June 2025—a fight that fell through. "This is going to probably be crazy to a lot of people listening, but why is the UFC not giving Jon the respect he deserves financially? That's crazy to me," Aspinall said. He highlighted Jones' legacy: "If anyone should be getting paid a lot in this sport, it should be Jon Jones for the stuff he’s done... They offered him $30 million to fight me, so why have they not offered it again? We're talking about Conor McGregor and Jon Jones; those are the guys who’ve brought in revenue for over 10 years. They need to be getting paid what they deserve, in my opinion."
The White House co-main event features Ciryl Gane vs. Alex Pereira for the interim heavyweight title. Aspinall, sidelined since a no-contest against Gane in October 2025 due to eye poke injuries requiring two surgeries, aims to return by year's end to face the winner. He has recently signed with promoter Eddie Hearn amid White's boxing ventures.
MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian echoed calls to release Jones: "UFC should release Jon Jones... Let him go make a few dollars somewhere else with his bad hip."
