Surging UFC heavyweight on alert after 'GOAT' Jon Jones becomes champion of his division

Despite previously doubting him, Tom Aspinall has labeled Jon Jones the greatest of all time and seems to be relishing the thought of one day facing the newly-crowned UFC heavyweight champion.

The Brit has been one of the fastest-rising contenders in the division. He's bulldozed his way through opponents to place himself within the top six in the weight class. His impressive run came to an unfortunate end when he suffered an injury just seconds into his highly-anticipated clash against Curtis Blaydes last time out.

In a post on social media, Tom Aspinall heaped praise on Jon Jones, seemingly savoring the chance at improving and one day testing himself against the Hall of Famer.

"The GOAT is the champ of my division. I got a lot of work to do. Let's go!"

Aside from the aforementioned injury against Blaydes, Aspinall has barely endured any serious threat from his five other UFC opponents thus far, finishing all of them.

The heavyweight will be hoping to recapture the form that earned him knockout victories over Jake Collier, Alan Baudot, and Sergey Spivak. This alongside submission wins against Andre Arlovski and Alexander Volkov.

Eight months removed from his untimely knee injury, Tom Aspinall is working hard to return to the octagon and a bout agreement should be expected in the second half of 2023.

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Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane: How did the icon become UFC heavyweight champion?

Through all the questions and doubts, Jon Jones managed to showcase exactly why many consider him the greatest to ever compete in the sport. His dominant display against Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 was phenomenal.

The opening moments of the fight saw 'Bones' shaking off some clear ring rust as his entries and striking attempts didn't look as crisp. But that all changed after the first grappling exchange.

Jones managed to grab and hold Gane until he eventually pushed him up against the cage and began working to lock in submissions. Although he defended well at first, the Frenchman showed his clear inexperience on the ground and was caught with a guillotine choke just two minutes into their clash.

Stipe Miocic seems to be the next man on the heavyweight king's hit list. The UFC is working on matching the pair together for International Fight Week midway through the year.