Chael Sonnen leaks insider information on Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall that has allegedly impacted Alex Pereira's UFC future

There's finally a Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall bout agreement, at least according to former three-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen. 'The American Gangster' recently did an interview with Submission Radio, during which he claimed to have insider information on the UFC's matchmaking.

While the promotion has not made any official announcements regarding the much-anticipated heavyweight title unification between Jones and Aspinall, Sonnen claims that the bout has reached an agreement. Unfortunately, it supposedly came at the cost of ex-UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.

"They got a deal done with Jon Jones and Aspinall, at least verbally, the night before, this is inside information, you will not have heard this story anywhere else, they agreed on verbally the night before Pereira vs. [Magomed] Ankalaev. And I'm only telling you that because if they had not got that deal done, then Pereira would have, in fact, been a pawn on the board."

Thus, it is Sonnen's opinion that the timing of the alleged deal is what truly dashed Pereira's hopes of competing for the UFC heavyweight title, not the UFC 313 loss to Magomed Ankalaev.

"He would, in fact, right now, even off a loss, be a heavyweight. And they would've got him out of the division completely, and the only reason that that was no longer needed, opening the idea to a rematch with Ankalaev, a fight that wasn't heavily anticipated in the first place, is because they had ended up getting that piece of business done."

Check out Chael Sonnen's alleged insider information on Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall (15:01):

The UFC has yet to make any official announcements regarding Jones' next bout, but UFC CEO Dana White has been adamant that the highly anticipated matchup with Aspinall will take place.

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Jon Jones allegedly requested six months of preparation time for Tom Aspinall

While there's been no confirmation, Jon Jones has been accused of requesting six months' preparation time from the UFC to fight Tom Aspinall. If true, it would be an unprecedented demand, pushing the fight back to around September.

Moreover, Jones has never requested, nor has any fighter, a half-year training camp to prepare for one opponent. Whether true or not, Aspinall himself recently accused 'Bones' of avoiding not just him but also former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.