DANA WHITE has revealed the wheels are in motion for the "biggest fight in UFC history".
Mixed martial arts' premier promotion had yet another stellar year in 2024 - despite the continued absence of poster boy Conor McGregor.
The UFC's penultimate pay-per-view card of the year, UFC 309, proved to be one of their most successful events of the year.
Heavyweight champion Jon Jones further laid the groundwork for a unification bout with interim titleholder Tom Aspinall with a brutal third-round TKO win over Stipe Miocic.
Jones publicly poo-pooed the idea of sharing the octagon with Aspinall in the build-up to his MSG melee with Miocic.
Negotiations, however, are underway and White is confident they will bear fruit.
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The 55-year-old said: " [Jon Jones] has never said behind the scenes, 'I won't fight Tom Aspinall.' It's the exact opposite…"
"Jon Jones is like 37 [or] 38 years old now, has these huge gaps in between fights, he is not afraid to fight Tom Aspinall."
"He will fight Tom Aspinall and it will be the biggest fight in UFC history."
The UFC brass will have to bow to Jones' public financial demands in order to make the super-fight happen.
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During the UFC 309 post-fight press conference, Jones said of Aspinall: "He's annoying to me.
"He's annoying to me and that's my own personal - he annoys me.
"I get it you guys find it entertaining, but I find him annoying.
"I just don't like him and at the end of the day, if I give him the opportunity to fight me, I want to be so compensated.
I want to say it, I want that 'F**K YOU' money, honestly. That's just what it is.
"Or else my life is perfect without him.
"I don't need him at all and he needs me and that's a good place to be in a negotiation."