Tom Aspinall vacated the UFC heavyweight title because of an ongoing eye injury. That's the same belt Jon Jones gave up more than a year ago rather than fight Aspinall, and Jones wasted no time taunting his old rival now that the title is open again. With the belt vacant, five heavyweights suddenly have a much clearer road to gold. Josh Hokit is already pushing to fight interim champion Ciryl Gane, saying he wants to be the most active champ in the division.
Sources (5)
We summarise the day's news in our own words. Full credit to the outlets below for the original reporting, click through to read their work.
- Jon Jones taunts Tom Aspinall as old rival gives up UFC title (Yahoo Sports)
- Jon Jones freaks out over Islam Makhachev’s PED allegations: ‘Keep telling yourself it was steroids’ (MMA Mania)
- Ki MMA’s Rich Chou: “We Don’t Have to Have Eight Weight Classes” (Cageside Press)
- Nate Diaz ‘100%’ interested in signing for new UFC rival after turning Octagon return down (Bloody Elbow)
- All about UFC 331: Van vs Pantoja 2, Fight card and Swedish times (Frontkick Online)
Split from that day's roundup, so the sources listed are the full set behind the whole edition rather than this story alone.
This story ran in the September 15, 2026 edition of the daily show.