Tom Aspinall has had a terrible year waiting to find out if he was really going to face Jon Jones or not. But on Saturday, when the now-former UFC heavyweight champion announced his retirement from the sport, he finally got some clarity. Aspinall made it plain many times that his major ambition was to stay active and become an undisputed champion, even if he intended to fight Jones after earning and defending the interim heavyweight title. Now that Jones is gone, Aspinall has been named the only heavyweight champion in the UFC and is ready to get back to work with big goals in mind. Aspinall admits that the layoff and uncertainty were "a bit of a challenge," but he is looking forward to the future. In a video he put to his YouTube account on Sunday, Aspinall stated, "I'm going to keep this thing as active as possible." "I want to be the best heavyweight ever to live on this planet. "I'm going to protect this thing as much as I can." Aspinall has an amazing 8-1 record in the UFC, and his only loss came after he hurt his knee badly in a battle against Curtis Blaydes. He finally got back at Blaydes for that loss with a quick 60-second knockout in the rematch this past July. Aspinall has only gone past the first round once in his eight UFC wins, and he clearly has a flawless 100% finishing rate. Aspinall says he's eager to get back to work now that the Jones problem is over and he expects to arrange his next fight sooner rather than later. "I'll keep you guys entertained, and I'll really give back to everyone who has helped me out over the past year, five years, or ten years," Aspinall added. "I sincerely appreciate all the love and support I've gotten from everyone. In the future, we will see an active, defending UFC heavyweight champion who is not disputed. Dana White, the UFC's CEO, said on Sunday that he would meet with Aspinall in Las Vegas during International Fight Week to talk about his next fight. Ciryl Gane and Jailton Almeida are the top possibilities for a possible title chance, but White didn't say any names yet. He is basically waiting till he can sit down with Aspinall to talk about his choices and then book his next fight. Since the UFC schedule is already set through August and there are no plans for a pay-per-view in September, it's likely that Aspinall won't be able to fight until October at the earliest.