Tom Aspinall responds to Jon Jones, confident he matches up well ...

Tom Aspinall’s main goal is to become the UFC heavyweight champion — and if he happens to get the chance to fight Jon Jones along the way, that’s an added bonus.

Aspinall made a triumphant return to the octagon in the main event of UFC London on Saturday, where he destroyed Marcin Tybura in just over a minute via TKO. Following the victory, Aspinall called for the winner of the upcoming UFC Paris headliner between Ciryl Gane and Serghei Spivac, promising he would beat that person before going on to hand Jones his first legit loss.

“I think I match up well,” Aspinall said of Jones at the UFC London post-fight press conference. “It’s a dream fight of mine, and I think I’m young and I’m fresh. I don’t have loads of [mileage in my career], and I’m big. I can do everything well, I’m fast, I’m strong, I’m heavy — which isn’t like a lot of his opponents in the past.

“I just feel like I bring something different to him, I think he knows that as well — or he should know moving forward.”

It didn’t take long for Aspinall’s post-fight interview to catch the ears of Jones himself.

Not long after Aspinall laid out plans to beat Jones after beating the winner of Gane vs. Spivac, the reigning UFC heavyweight champ tweeted out a simple reply: “Sounds good.”

“Jon Jones knows I exist, woo-hoo! That’s a win in itself,” Aspinall said in response. “I’m buzzing with that. What I want to do, I’ve been saying it all week, is I want to win my fights going forward, of course, but also, another goal of mine is I want to motivate Jon Jones to stick around and fight me. Like, that is my absolute dream, mate. ... A guy from Atherton fighting Jon Jones, mate? Oh my goodness me, that would be incredible.”

Aspinall last fought a year prior against Curtis Blaydes in the same building as Saturday’s event, in the same marquee spot, but the bout ended abruptly in just 15 seconds after Aspinall suffered a brutal knee injury. The rehabilitation was tough, but Aspinall says that the injury — in a strange twist — could be described as “the best thing that could’ve happened,” especially with how he feels currently.

Moving forward, Aspinall called to fight the winner of Gane vs. Spivac on the same card as Jones’ title defense against Stipe Miocic — UFC 295, which takes place Nov. 11 at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden. Aspinall already trucked through Spivac in less than a round back in September 2021, so if Gane is the next man up, Aspinall likes his chances.

“I think I match up pretty well against him,” Aspinall said of Gane. “I think I’m equally as fast as him, I move equally as well. The difference is, I can grapple and I’ve got a lot of power, and I think that’s pretty undeniable at this stage of my career.”

While getting Jones’ attention with his victory and post-fight speech is a great first step, Aspinall ultimately just wants to be able to have the UFC heavyweight belt around his waist — whether or not he gets it from the man many consider to be the greatest to ever do it.

“It’s not my goal [to fight Jon Jones],” Aspinall explained. “I would love it to happen, [but] my goal is becoming heavyweight champion. That’s my life goal right now. But Jon Jones would just be an extra bonus. If I could get that, that would be amazing.

“But if he retired, I wouldn’t be like, ‘Jon’s retired, oh, no.’ I’d be upset, obviously [that I wouldn’t get the chance], but it wouldn’t bother me. I’ll fight the next guy who has the title, no problem.”