Jonny Bones Calls It A Day – Here’s the Fight the UFC Needs to Make to Fill the Void of Jones-Aspinall
June 23th, 2025, 7:05 AM ET
Written by Danny Varano
Dana White surprised the MMA world Saturday night with an announcement that current heavyweight champion, Jon Jones, will be retiring. Prior to the breaking news, the circumstances circulating the heavyweight championship had become the top story for many UFC outlets. Jones, dubbed by many as the UFC GOAT, had been delaying a potential bout to unify his title with interim belt holder, Tom Aspinall. The fan base was growing exponentially more frustrated as Jones carried on his stalling act without retribution from the UFC. In fact, a petition was created calling the organization to strip Jones of his title, and the formal request received nearly 200,000 signatures from UFC fanatics.
This past weekend, the demands of fans were appeased. Jones will hand over his title along with his retirement papers, and Aspinall is officially the heavyweight champ. Although the heavyweight division can now resume, an air of disappointment still remains. A potential bout between the youthful Aspinall and the decorated Jones was pinned as the promotion’s next mega-fight. As the UFC continues to introduce the new generation, and established fighters make their way out the door, it is a crucial time to book the most marketable bouts.
With the Jones-Aspinall card out of the deck, allow this article to serve as a proposal for the next sizable fight the UFC must make. A contest between featherweight king, Ilia “El Matador” Topuria, and his fellow antagonist, Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett, would not only be particularly alluring, but it also contains the same defining qualities as many of the UFC’s highest grossing events.
Topuria and Pimblett have arrived as two of the most fascinating personalities in the sport. Yet, as the Spanish-Georgian Topuria discussed on a recent podcast with UFC commentator, Joe Rogan, the featherweight champion and the lightweight Pimblett possess very dissimilar demeanors. El Matador has enraptured the UFC fanbase with his calculated and intimidating confidence. Opposingly, fans have fallen in love with Pimblett for his silly shenanigans and unserious, flamboyant nature. He frolics joyfully in the octagon after victories, and his ingratiating English accent can only be likened to the Irish tongue of Conor McGregor. However, it is not solely the characters of Topuria and Pimblett that are in conflict.
In 2022, El Matador accosted Pimblett in London after the English fighter made unsavory comments regarding Topuria’s native Georgia. A video quickly surfaced of the two fighters swinging punches at each other and exchanging swears while their respective teams broke up the melee. Six months after the incident, perhaps strategically orchestrated by the UFC to stir additional drama, Topuria and Paddy were both placed on the UFC 282 main card. The two would not be confronting each other in the octagon, but the adversaries stole the show at the pre-fight press conference with a heated war of words. The impassioned series of events resulted in the feud between Topuria and Pimblett becoming one of the most intriguing rivalries in the sport. A few weeks ago, Topuria stoked the fire once again in an interview with ESPN Deportes. El Matador spoke in reference to Paddy: “if I could choose a fight, I would fight him because I hate him…he’s a pain in the a**.” Unfortunately, up until recently, a potential bout between the two was improbable as they competed in separate divisions.
When Topuria announced his transition up to the lightweight division earlier this year, fans could not restrain from speculating that Pimblett may have factored into his decision. Over the past year, Paddy The Baddy has continually demonstrated himself to be a future title challenger. The Englishman has finished his last two opponents, submitting King Green at UFC 304 and knocking out Michael Chandler at UFC 314 in April. However, El Matador will first attempt to collect his second UFC belt in a battle with Charles Oliveira for the lightweight championship at UFC 317 on Saturday.
Nevertheless, a prospective duel with Paddy is an appealing subplot to monitor during this upcoming weekend’s event. The UFC could stumble upon a figurative pot of gold, particularly if El Matador were to suffer his first career loss to Oliveira. Following a Topuria defeat, a matchup between him and Pimblett would be a logical next step for both fighters. Topuria would keep his fans engaged, and Paddy, who is still not quite qualified for a title shot, would be gifted the chance to elevate himself to a championship level. Contrarily, if El Matador executes as the odds would suggest (-475 favorite over Oliveira on ESPN Bet), the proposed match between Topuria and Pimblett may be contingent on Paddy adding one more tally to the win column.
In regards to the magnitude of a meeting between the European enemies, many of the UFC’s most successful events have contained a similar beef among competitors. A Topuria-Pimblett clash seems to mirror the most pronounced UFC feud, and biggest fight in the company’s history, Khabib vs. McGregor at UFC 229. At the time of their showdown in 2018, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor were both in their fighting prime. Further paralleling Topuria and Pimblett, the two could not be any more unalike. Khabib is a stoic and Conor is one of the greatest showmen in the history of sports. The fiery animosity between Nurmagomedov and the Notorious McGregor was palpable, and it drove fans to the television.
How does the old adage go? “If it bleeds, it reads?” Well, in the UFC blood spills regardless, but bad blood draws the most viewers. As it pertains to a future war with Pimblett, Topuria summed it up best in his interview with ESPN Deportes. “For a long time, I believe that in the UFC, you haven’t seen a real fight,” he remarked.
If El Matador and Paddy are eventually granted the opportunity to settle their beef in the octagon, not only would the battle certainly evoke “real” emotion, but it may become the most compelling fight the UFC has given fans in years.