Tom Aspinall finally got what he wanted, which is to become the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion, but not in the way he wanted. It was after Jon Jones‘ retirement announcement that the Englishman got promoted to full champion status. Now, after over a year since he last fought, Aspinall finally has a fight in hand, as he spoke about it while giving his two cents on the rumors surrounding a potential showdown against Alex Pereira.

Well, fans will have to be patient when it comes to witnessing Tom Aspinall in action. Why? Well, he claims that Dana White and the matchmaking team have decided on his next opponent. However, the official confirmation is yet to be given, as the heavyweight champion claimed that he has yet to put pen to paper and sign a fight contract, even though such documents do not hold enough weight in the UFC.

“Yes, it is [a fight announcement is coming soon]. As far as signed, I can’t remember the last time I actually physically signed a contract. They just ask me, I just say yes… Usually, I sign the contracts on fight week,” Tom Aspinall told UFC on Eurosport in a recent interview. “Contracts actually don’t mean too much. The UFC asks you. You say yes.”

Now, let’s turn our attention to Alex Pereira and hints that he might be moving to Tom Aspinall’s division. Not too long ago, ‘Poatan’ shared a video where he was seen weighing over 240 lbs. Given that he’s one of the biggest stars in Dana White’s promotion, with a net worth of over $4 million, that video got the whole community talking about him fighting the heavyweight champion next.

Well, Tom Aspinall spoke highly of Alex Pereira, especially his team, who never fail to generate buzz among the fans. That, perhaps, is Poatan’s biggest secret to success. But when it comes to fighting Pereira, Aspinall believes that the right thing to do would be for the former light heavyweight champion to get back his title, and then maybe they can entertain the heavyweight fight. But as of now, there’s nothing that the Englishman could say about their potential clash because he’s not entirely sure if Pereira is really serious about his weight class move.

“Any fight is interesting to me. I don’t need much to be enticed into with somebody… but as far as he’s [Alex Pereira] concerned, I think that if I was him, I would wanna get a rematch to get the light heavyweight belt back. But I’m not him. I don’t know,” Tom Aspinall added. “The guy and his team know what they’re doing on social media. They know how to make headlines, which is good… maybe he’s just teasing it. Maybe it will be him. I don’t know.”

While we wait to see who Tom Aspinall fights next, it appears that some UFC legends are already discussing it. And guess what? Former double champion Henry Cejudo has named his next opponent, but it’s not someone that the fans would be expecting Aspinall to square off against.

Henry Cejudo picks Tom Aspinall’s next opponent

Recently, rumors started picking up steam that Tom Aspiball could end up fighting Ciryl Gane. The duo has never fought each other before, so for a lot of people, this fight made sense. Meanwhile, Henry Cejudo joined the conversation, claiming that it would be better for Dana White and Co. to set up Aspinall for UFC 322 versus Derrick Lewis, who recently scored a knockout win, and has more name value than ‘Bon Gamin’.

“It should be Tom Aspinall vs Derrick Lewis next. The fans would definitely prefer it, and Lewis would mean more to Aspinall’s resume than Gane,” Henry Cejudo wrote on social media. Dismissing other options, ‘Triple C’ added, “How could you build up a fight between Aspinall and Gane when Gane lost his last fight and Dana said to Volkov outside the cage, ‘You got f—ed.’ Let Aspinall/Lewis headline UFC 322 at MSG.”

Tom Aspinall has chosen to remain tight-lipped about his next opponent, but we’ll surely be getting an update from the UFC in the coming weeks, since he’s hinted that everything is set. Who do you think he’s end up butting heads with on his return? Drop your comments below.