The MMA world is losing its mind over the Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall heavyweight title unification clash. Nearly six months after ‘Bones’ defended his ‘undisputed’ title against Stipe Miocic, we still don’t know what Jones’ stance on the fight is. Aspinall is completely onboard and raring for the fight. Dana White and the UFC are also desperate for the fight to happen because of the kind of money it could make them.
The only hold-up seems to be the GOAT contender. Or at least that is what fans thought until recently, when Jones claimed that he had “already told the UFC my plans” and was puzzled why the promotion did not inform the fans about it. Which many have taken to mean that the New Yorker won’t face the interim champ. Fans already suspect that ‘Bones’ doesn’t want to fight Aspinall, well, because Jones has said he doesn’t really want to fight Aspinall since he has nothing to gain from it.
But ‘Bones’s arch-rival, Daniel Cormier, actually has a completely opposite interpretation Jones’ quote and feels that we may yet see Jones-Aspinall on the UFC’s annual Madison Square Garden card in November.
“Is he fighting in Madison Square Garden? I got to be honest, man, it just doesn’t feel to me like this is going to happen. I don’t understand even with him saying the other day he goes ‘I’ve already told you what I’m doing why they haven’t told you, I don’t know.’ He goes ‘I know what I’m doing.’”
“To me that’s hope that they’re going to fight and if there is a card that warrants that level of fight, it’s Madison Square Garden. So do they fight there, and, like you said I wouldn’t be surprised if he beat Tom Aspinall if I’m being completely honest,” ‘DC’ told Chael Sonnen on their ‘Good Guy/Bad Guy Show’ on ESPN MMA.
Madison Square Garden NEW YORK CITY, NY -NOVEMBER 16:Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic meet in the octagon for a 3-round bout for UFC309 – Jones vs Miocic at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2024 in New York City, NY Photo by Louis Grasse/PxImages Louis Grasse / SPP PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxBRAxMEX Copyright: xLouisxGrassex/xSPPx spp-en-LoGr-lrg2411164283824_UFCVegas309
Indeed, Jones’ aforementioned X post does not specify what his answer was. So it does leave room for differing, even contradictory interpretations. But then again, it seems like not even Tom Aspinall knows what ‘Bones’s answer is at the moment. Speaking to Demetrious Johnson on the latter’s podcast about how “mentally difficult” he was finding sitting around not knowing when his next fight would be.
So, if ‘DC’ is correct, Jones has agreed to the fight, told the UFC he wants to fight Aspinall, and the promotion hasn’t told anyone– not even Aspinall’s team about it. Not to mention there aren’t any leaks from the UFC either, which you would expect in the case of the biggest fight that could be made in the entire sport at the moment.
But to be fair, the UFC could be deliberately keeping the fight announcement tightly under wraps since all the buzz around the clash is only helping make a potential Jones-Aspinall clash even bigger. So, yeah, there is also a good chance that Jones has agreed to fight and told the UFC, as ‘DC’ thinks. But the other side’s argument seems more compelling given Jones’ thoughts about Aspinall and the danger he poses to him.
Why Jon Jones doesn’t want to fight Tom Aspinall
As we have mentioned, Jon Jones has said many times that he doesn’t want to fight Tom Aspinall. The GOAT contender, of course, is approaching the end of his career. That is why the most important thing to ‘Bones’ at the moment is what legacy he leaves behind. And that seems to be primary reason behind why he doesn’t want to fight Tom Aspinall- the interim champ is just not worthy of fighting Jon ‘Bones’ Jones.
“More than likely not [that I fight Aspinall]. I feel like Tom Aspinall is, I don’t want to say nobody, but he just hasn’t proven anything. He hasn’t done anything – I understand that he won his belt against Sergei, Sergei just got slaughtered by someone else,” Jones said in an interview.
Not to mention Aspinall is a very dangerous stylistic matchup for Jones. The Englishman is younger, naturally bigger, and stronger than the undisputed champ. Not to mention the interim champ holds one-punch knockout power in his hands, and doesn’t have much tape for Jones to follow since Aspinall hasn’t been out of the second round in his UFC career so far. So, yeah, Cormier may be right that Jones actually has agreed to fight Aspinall, but the opposite could just as, or more likely to be true. What do you think about ‘DC’s thoughts on Jon Jones’ recent X post?
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