Jon Jones has opened up on why he doesn’t see Tom Aspinall as a viable challenger at this stage of his career.

UFC heavyweight champion Jones, 37, returns to the cage this weekend at UFC 309 inside New York’s Madison Square Garden where he will meet the former champion Stipe Miocic in a long-delayed matchup between the two which should, in theory at least, provide a significant boost the winner’s legacy.

Waiting in the wings, however, is the interim champion Tom Aspinall, who has actively campaigned for an undisputed fight with Jones ever since he won the interim crown last year — subsequently defending it this past summer against Curtis Blaydes.

But despite Aspinall’s appetite to compete in an official heavyweight title bout, Jones has instead talked up the possibility of his next fight coming against Alex Pereira, a fighter he says is closer to him in age and weight, as well as profile.

And speaking to the media in New York on Wednesday, including The Mac Life, the champion elaborated on his position as it relates to Aspinall.

“I feel like narratives have been created that just truly aren’t there. You can’t duck a man that you were never scheduled to fight,” Jones said. “Me and Dana [White] and Hunter [Campbell] have never sat down and talked about Tom Aspinall. He’s never been on my radar.

“I mean, just a moment ago it was him and Sergei [Pavlovich] that was fighting. Sergei could be in this position right now, and I would still be in the same place of… I’ve beat people my whole career. And once I beat them, the show just goes on. The French fans were just all over my case, and I just beat their guy [Ciryl Gane].

“I find myself constantly in the same position of, ‘Oh wow, he just beat another guy. What’s next?’ When I beat Glover Teixeira, he was on a 20-fight winning streak. You beat Glover and then everything just moves on.

“I get that Tom is an exciting fighter. I get that finally, after 16 years, we’ve found somebody who’s seven years younger than me and 30 pounds bigger than me. Like, we’ve finally found someone who may give me a great challenge, and everyone wants to see it so bad. But for me, what’s in it for me? He changes nothing if I beat him. Beating Tom is just like beating Ciryl Gane. He has a whole country behind him; he’s hot right now. What happens to me after I beat him? Nothing changes for me.”

Furthermore, Jones said that he doesn’t like how Aspinall has attempted to position himself for the bout.

“If I’m being completely honest, I feel like Tom’s been such an assh*le that I don’t want to do business with him,” Jones said. “His fans have been so annoying and obviously you don’t get this far in a career being affected by fans or what not, but he’s just an assh*le. He’s 30 so he’s from this influencer generation where you hop online with the t-shirt sales and all that.

“I’m past that type of stuff. I’m like bro if you had a little bit more respect then maybe we could have something out. I just don’t even want to do business with him.”