Tom Aspinall opens up on his awkward meeting with Jon Jones after the UFC heavyweight champion moved the Brit's hand off his shoulder and turned down a request for a 'face-off' photo

Tom Aspinall insists he won’t ’cause more beef’ with Jon Jones after their awkward meeting in Birmingham on Saturday.

Jones, who is the UFC heavyweight champion, and British star Aspinall, who holds the interim title, met for the first time at a sports festival which was held in the city.

After the pair greeted each other, Aspinall placed his hand on Jones’ shoulder, only to have it quickly removed.

Jones then agree to have a photo with Aspinall, but declined when the Brit suggested they ‘face-off’ in the picture.

Addressing their meeting, Aspinall told JN Media: ‘We were at the same event so obviously it makes sense for me, we’ve got the interim champion and the undisputed champion at the same event.

Tom Aspinall insists he ‘won’t cause more beef’ with Jon Jones after their awkward meeting

Jones moved Aspinall’s hand off his shoulder and declined a ‘face-off’ picture between the pair

‘But it’s a bit weird that there’s an undisputed champion and an interim champion, because undisputed means no one can dispute it, but if there’s another champion, I don’t know… it’s a little bit weird the way it looks.’

The Englishman has been campaigning to unify the titles since winning interim gold at UFC 295 in November against Sergei Pavlovich.

Jones, who won the undisputed title against Ciryl Gane last March, was supposed to headline the New York City card against Stipe Miocic before tearing a pectoral tendon in training camp.

Aspinall added: ‘(The interaction with Jones) was good, we had a little chat, it was all good.

‘I think he thought I was putting a hand on his shoulder to be disrespectful but I wasn’t. I wasn’t there to be disrespectful, I was doing it in a friendly way. I’m not going to cause more beef.

Jones won the UFC heavyweight title in March 2023 before tearing his pectoral tendon

‘I’m trying to fight the guy and take his belt, that’s what I want. I have no beef against the guy. To me, it’s just friendly, nothing crazy.’

After Jones moved the interim champions’ hand from his shoulder, he also turned down a faceoff with Aspinall.

‘We will do this (fight) thing,’ Aspinall said in the video shared on his YouTube channel. ‘I would love to man.’

‘I would hope so,’ Jones said with a smile. ‘All the best.’

‘We do a quick picture?’ Aspinall asked. To which Jones said, ‘sure.’ After Aspinall suggested a faceoff, Jones’ expression changed as he dismissed the idea.

‘Nah,’ he said while shaking his head.

In Jones’ absence, Aspinall won the interim belt by beating Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295

After the interaction, Aspinall posted his reaction to meeting Jones on his TikTok. He noted how he is much bigger than the heavyweight king.

‘He’s alright, mate,’ he said of Jones. ‘First time I met him. He’s nowhere as big as I thought. I thought he’s a lot taller, but I guess when you fight at light-heavyweight your whole career, and you’re 6’4″‘, you look really tall.

‘But I’m a full-grown heavyweight, aren’t I? He’s nowhere as big as me, but size doesn’t matter really. We’re both massive guys, but I’ll take that one. I think I beat him definitely.’

Before venturing into the heavyweight division, Jones ruled the light heavyweights despite being stripped and suspended on multiple occasions. Jones holds a 27-1 MMA record, with his last 16 meetings being title bouts.