Joe Rogan: Dana White says claim Jon Jones wants $30 million to fight Tom Aspinall is ‘bullsh*t’
Joe Rogan is retracting a claim that got a ton of buzz in the MMA space.
The podcast-hosting powerhouse, comedian, and UFC color commentator said on a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience that he was told Jon Jones was asking for $30 million to fight Tom Aspinall, and expressed hope that the UFC would pay so the fight could take place,
On a new episode of his podcast, Rogan said he received a call from UFC CEO Dana White that debunked those claims.
“I had heard a rumor that Jon Jones wanted $30 million to fight Tom Aspinall — and I did hear that rumor, and I did hear the UFC said yes, but it is not true,” Rogan said. “So Dana contacted me and said that rumor was bullshit, so I felt obligated to tell everybody that was a fake rumor.”
Rogan also said that the episode in question was recorded “two weeks ago,” and didn’t remember who told him about Jones’ potential price tag. His guest Theo Von then asked what Rogan thought would be the number for Jones to take the fight, and the longtime UFC voice says this could go a number of different ways following Jones’ lopsided destruction of former champ Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November.
“Apparently Jon is thinking about retiring,” Rogan said. “And he should. He’s going to have to some day. I’m not saying he should retire, I’m saying he should think about it.
“Give the man all the time he wants. He can fight whenever he wants to fight. That’s Jon Jones. He’s the GOAT. So leave him alone. If he decides one day to come back, and he comes back and wants to fight Tom Aspinall for the heavyweight title... the question is, how long are you allowed to hold onto the title before they start having that conversation? Now, he just knocked out Stipe Miocic, so give the man months. Give the man five or six months. Just leave him the f*ck alone.
“But at a certain point in time, you have to decide who the heavyweight champion is. And if Tom is the interim heavyweight champion and Jon decides he doesn’t want to fight anymore, he could do that — and he could do that, come back in a year and fight for the title. He can do that. He can do whatever he wants.”
Aspinall has been the interim heavyweight champion since destroying Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 in November 2023, even defending the title with a quick stoppage of Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 this past July.
Since winning the vacant title at UFC 285 in March 2023, Jones has only defended it against Miocic after overcoming injuries that kept him out of action for nearly two years.