Jon Jones Reportedly Backed Out of Tom Aspinall UFC Fight Despite $30M Contract Offer

Former UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones' refusal to accept a title unification fight against Tom Aspinall is even more questionable following a recent revelation.

During an appearance on Impaulsive, MMA journalist Ariel Helwani reported that Jones turned down a whopping $30 million contract offer from the UFC to fight Aspinall, who was the interim heavyweight champion at the time.

"My information is that he gave the UFC a number, he gave them a price tag, he said, 'I'll do it for this number.' ... I believe it's in the $30 million range. He didn't think that they would come up with the number, and then they did," Helwani said. "... I believe that Saudi Arabia was involved, the big dogs were involved, they came up with the number. He said yes, and then two days later, three days later, whatever, he said, 'No, on second thought, I'm out.'"

Jones last fought in November but took all the way until June to announce his retirement from the UFC, which elevated Aspinall to undisputed heavyweight champion. The fact that a fight between them never came to fruition could go down as one of the biggest missed opportunities in the history of the company.

Following the announcement of plans for a UFC fight card at the White House on Independence Day 2026, Jones said last month that he would end his retirement for the chance to fight on the card. However, UFC CEO Dana White expressed hesitation to book him for such a high-profile matchup, saying, "I just can’t risk putting him in big positions in a big spot and have something go wrong, especially the White House card."

Aspinall, who will defend his title against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 on Oct. 25, also made it clear that he's no longer pursuing a fight against Jones, saying on an episode of The Ariel Helwani Show earlier this week, "I'm not interested, mate. Not interested. The world shouldn't be interested either, because what's the point? That's false hope."

It sounds like Jones may have overplayed his hand and missed out on a monumental payday against Aspinall.