The UFC's top fighter has addressed the reasons for his total refusal to engage with Sky Sports.
Tom Aspinall was promoted to UFC heavyweight champion status by president and CEO Dana White when former champion Jon Jones, who defended the title only once, retired from the sport as an unbeaten champion in June.
Jones' retirement ended hopes of a blockbuster title unification bout between the American veteran and Aspinall, who had held the interim title belt since beating Sergei Pavlovich in November 2023.
Heavyweight champion Aspinall, 32, doesn't talk to Sky Sports at all.
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His motivations have an air of mystery but his resolve is unwavering and he confirmed that he will not change his mind in a conversation with renowned combat sports journalist Ariel Helwani.
It can be difficult for top-level sportspeople to maintain their privacy and UFC fans are more than willing to speculate about the reasons for Aspinall's Sky Sports boycott, but the fighter seems happy enough to keep the specifics to himself for the time being.
"You'll never catch me doing a Sky interview ever," Aspinall said on The Ariel Helwani Show. "I'll never say why, okay? They know why."
The absence of Aspinall on Sky Sports isn't for the want of trying, if his comments are any indication.
"I can be the greatest heavyweight fighter of all time, the best athlete to come out of the UK, I'll never ever work with Sky," he continued.
"If I'm in a media scrum and someone from Sky asks me a question, I won't answer it. They'll never get headlines from me ever again."
Aspinall defended the interim title against Curtis Blaydes and efforts to tie up a title unification fight ramped up.
After Jones' retirement and Aspinall's subsequent ascent to the undisputed title, Helwani claimed that Jones left $30m on the table by declining the fight.
"They did everything in their power to make this fight. Jon Jones asked for $30 million. They didn't want to give him $30 million," said Helwani.
"He wanted to make the fight. They eventually got to the $30 million. Jon said he was in. A couple of days later, he said he was out. And once he said he was out, he was never back in."
Aspinall had previously said that he was more interested in the undisputed title than fighting Jones.
Topics: MMA, UFC, Tom Aspinall, Sky Sports, Ariel Helwani
Chris Nee