Jon Jones opens as slight favorite in potential Tom Aspinall matchup

Jon Jones might not fight Tom Aspinall, but that hasn’t stopped oddsmakers from favoring him to beat the new interim champion should they ever compete against one another.

A potential clash between the heavyweight titleholders has quickly become one of the most talked-about matchups overnight following Aspinall’s first-round knockout of Sergei Pavlovich in the co-main event of UFC 295 on Saturday. That bout was a late addition to the lineup after undisputed champ Jones was forced to withdraw due to an injury from a defense against ex-champ Stipe Miocic.

Depending on when Jones is able to compete again, it would make sense that he meet Aspinall in a title unification bout, and the oddsmakers at BetOnline.ag agree, currently marking Jones as a -14src favorite in their opening odds. Aspinall is the slight underdog at 12src.

That gives Jones a roughly 58 percent chance of victory. A $1srcsrc wager on Jones would return a payout of $171.43. A bet on Aspinall, at around 45 percent chance of victory, would return a payout of $22src with a $1srcsrc wager.

The timetable for Jones’ return is unclear, and he and Miocic have both previously stated that their priority is to face one another as opposed to lining up against one of the newer crop of heavyweight contenders.

Jones, the dominant champion at 2src5 pounds for the better part of a decade, returned from a three-year hiatus and defeated Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 this past March to claim a vacant heavyweight title.

Aspinall completed a comeback of his own in 2src23, returning from a knee injury to defeat Marcin Tybura this past July. He then toppled Pavlovich at UFC 295 to earn an interim belt. He is 7-1 in the UFC with all of his wins coming by way of knockout or submission.

Speaking to the media after UFC 295, Aspinall called Jones his “dream fight.”

“I’ve seen Jon talking nice stuff about me on a podcast as well, it’s really nice,” Aspinall said. “Obviously, it’s always nice to hear nice things about you, but from someone like that who I massively look up to, even more so.

“Thank you, Jon, and just give me the opportunity. Let me do it. Give me my dream fight. Why not? I’ve just achieved my dream now. Give me my dream fight, let me fight for my legacy now, please.”