The UFC heavyweight champion's saga with Jones has been a topic of much discussion in the MMA world for over a year, but Aspinall has decided it's time to move forward. Recently on the "Good Guy/Bad Guy" show with Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen, Aspinall declared that he believes Jones is effectively retired.

"Jon's retired. What are you talking about? You guys don't follow Jon on social media? The guy is living his best life," said Aspinall. Praising Jones for his stellar career, Aspinall added, "We know Jon's a religious man, so I want to say God bless him moving forward, what he does in his life and his career, and we move on. We move on. I'm the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. I'm ready to take on all comers, get this division moving again. Us guys have been waiting around too long."

Jones, a former UFC light heavyweight champion, hasn't officially retired but has shown no interest in returning to the octagon soon. Jones has frequently spoken about his uncertainty regarding his fighting future and openly expressed his contentment with his current lifestyle. Aspinall takes this as a sign that Jones has mentally checked out of the sport.

"If one guy is thinking about retiring, he's retired," Aspinall emphasized. "I ain't thinking about retiring. I'm thinking about getting this division active, making the heavyweight division great again, getting these big fights in, fighting these contenders who are sat on the sidelines waiting for over a year at this point. I'm here to fight, man."

As the longest-reigning interim champion in UFC history with nearly 600 days under his belt, Aspinall is not daunted by the lengthy wait. Instead, he is eager to stir excitement in the heavyweight division and face whoever stands in his way. He stressed that he is more focused on fighting for the undisputed heavyweight championship rather than waiting for a match against Jones.

"I'm not looking to fight Jon Jones," Aspinall stated. "I'm looking to fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship. That's what I want to be. I want to be the UFC undisputed heavyweight champion. I see a lot of people comparing me to Michael Chandler. Michael Chandler waited for a long time for Conor McGregor. I'm not waiting for one fight. I'm not trying to fight one guy. I'm trying to fight all the guys."

Listing out potential contenders, Aspinall said, "It doesn't matter who it is. Ciryl Gane, [Alexander] Volkov rematch, [Jailton] Almeida, Derrick Lewis, Brock Lesnar, whoever it is, I don't care. I want to fight everybody, and I want to fight as much as possible, get some excitement back in this division."

Aspinall closed his remarks by wishing Jon Jones the best in his future endeavors. "All the best, the guy's living his best life. Full respect to him, wish him all the best in the future, he deserves all the money and success that he gets. I'm the active guy, I'm going to fight somebody, and that's going to be announced pretty soon."