If there’s one person in the MMA world who believes that the fight between Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall is happening it’s the UFC CEO Dana White. The 55-year-old delivered an encouraging update on the highly anticipated heavyweight title unification clash. In an interview with TNT Sports ahead of UFC London, White said, “The fight will happen. It’s gonna happen. It’s done, but it’s not done enough to sit right here now and announce it and give you a date,”. But is ‘Bones’ really up for the fight with the ‘Honey Badger’?
Let’s take a closer look at some of the conditions that the 37-year-old has put up for the fight. Jones previously declared that he would need ‘f..k you money’ (speculated at around $30 million) to get inside the Octagon with the hard-hitting problem. If the money seemed to be a tough ask, he has now come up with a new demand. According to MMA reporter Ariel Helwani, the heavyweight champion wants a period of six months from when the fight is locked to prepare. Well, we all know that ‘Bones’ likes to study his opponents before he gets into a fight with them. He watches their every move, and every strength (and weakness) and creates the best plan for them. But the big question is, will he turn up after six months?
Others might feel he would, but former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker sees things a bit differently. ‘The Reaper’ feels the 37-year-old is just trolling the interim champion at the moment. While speaking on the MMA Arcade podcast Whittaker said, “It’s hard. At this point right now I can, kind of, see Jon Jones just trolling the hell out of Tom Aspinall. I can see him, like, signing it, doing 5 months , and then just retiring. I think he is trolling him at this point, like, it’s rough.”
This is not the first time that the champion has been under scrutiny for delaying his fight with the ‘Honey Badger’. The interim champion has been accusing ‘Bones’ of “ducking” him, and in the latest—mocked Jones with a plastic duck, cage side during the promotion’s 16th outing in London.
For Jones, he is chasing a completely new record of his own, the record for the longest-reigning UFC heavyweight title. That title is currently being held by, Cain Velasquez at an impressive 896 days. Sitting at 750 days, Jon Jones has the chance to get past the legendary fighter’s record if his next clash doesn’t take place in the coming 180 days. Is Jon Jones purposely trying to delay his fight only to get his name etched in the record books? Well, Chael Sonnen doesn’t quite feel so.
Chael Sonnen shares his honest opinion on Jones ‘ducking’ Aspinall claims
The heavyweight division of the UFC is currently on a halt. The main reason for that? Well, the current champion doesn’t quite want to fight with the interim champion. Here’s something even crazier: by April 29, Tom Aspinall will have held the interim heavyweight title longer than Renan Barao’s 535-day reign as the interim bantamweight champion.
That’s an absurdly long time to sit on the sidelines, especially for a fighter in his prime! Despite trying his best to get the attention of the champion, ‘Honey Badger’ is yet to get his fight with Jon Jones. What can really be the reason behind it? According to Sonnen, the fight is yet to be offered to ‘Bones’. ‘The American Gangster’ took to his YouTube channel to give a completely different perspective on the ongoing rivalry.
He said, “But my position as the greatest insider in the sport! Jon will not turn that fight down—announcement number one. Jon has not been offered that fight. That’s the monster in the closet that people don’t seem to want to be true. There has not been a suggestion of a date or venue. Not yet. In a phone call to Jon where his opponent would be Tom for the undisputed title. If you believe that Jon Jones is refusing to do those things? You are wrong! He’s not yet been presented with that offer.”
For Aspinall, an ideal situation would be to get his fight by the end of the year. However, as Whittaker pointed out, Jones might just never turn up for the clash. Will Jon Jones fight the interim champion next in his career? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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