At first glance, Michael Chandler and Tom Aspinall seem worlds apart. One is a former Bellator champ turned UFC lightweight slugger. The other is a towering Englishman holding interim UFC gold at heavyweight. Yet, both have found themselves shackled to the same nightmare, waiting for a fight that just won’t come.
For Chandler, that dream was Conor McGregor. Two years of chasing, waiting, and hoping. Only to end up standing across the Octagon from Paddy Pimblett, not the Irish megastar. Meanwhile, Aspinall has called out Jon Jones for nearly 18 months at this point. Still no response. But according to Daniel Cormier, he should now cut his own path and refuse to let ‘Bones’ dictate his career’s trajectory!
Daniel Cormier lays out how Tom Aspinall can avoid falling into the same trap as Michael Chandler
On a recent episode of the ‘Good Guy/ Bad Guy’ show on YouTube, Daniel Cormier revealed that he had a chat with “Big Tom” and what emerged was a man dealing with frustration. The reason? Cormier explained, “Seriously, and that’s where the frustration comes in, he’s like, I don’t care that it’s not Jon Jones. I just want to fight, right? I’m young, I’m excited, I’m the champion of the world, and I feel Tom Aspinall today feels more like he’s the true heavyweight champ than he ever has, right.”
Since winning the interim heavyweight crown against Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295, Tom Aspinall has defended his belt against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in 2024. Jon Jones? He has been out of action since defending the undisputed title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309. And there are no signs of a title unification bout on the horizon anytime soon.
As such, Cormier continued, “Today, he feels like he’s the best heavyweight in the world because of those reasons. And also, the idea that this dude just won’t fight him, so he’s like, “Give me someone, give me someone, I just want to fight.”
And that is what sets him apart from Michael Chandler as the former ‘champ-champ’ further stated, “Coz Michael Chandler Conor McGregor, it just felt like Michael Chandler was going to wait until Conor McGregor fought him or he had no other option and then he just ran out of time so he ended up in there with Paddy Pimblett, who if I’m being honest Chael, maybe two years ago he’d have beat Paddy Pimblett, right?”
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While Cormier isn’t wrong, Chandler first took on Charles Oliveira at UFC 309 once the Conor McGregor fight showed no signs of materializing. He lost that bout via unanimous decision. Then came UFC 314 against Paddy Pimblett. The result? A vicious TKO loss in the third round to a young and rising talent.
It’s a cautionary tale. When you put your future in another fighter’s hands, you risk losing control of your own path. Tom Aspinall, despite his frustration, seemingly refuses to fall into that trap, as revealed by Daniel Cormier. As for the undisputed heavyweight champion, he’s still keeping the MMA sphere guessing about his next move!
Jon Jones continues to keep his plans under wraps as the petition to strip him of the title gains steam
While Jon Jones remains inactive, Tom Aspinall has taken matters into his own hands. He recently even shared a link to a petition on his Instagram, which urges the UFC to strip Jones of the undisputed title. Over 150,000 fans have backed the call. Still, no response from the UFC, or from ‘Bones’. So what exactly is Jones’s plan?
In a recent conversation on ‘DeepCut with VicBlends’, the 37-year-old champion didn’t offer clarity on the future. Instead, he stated, “I don’t know what life holds as far as fighting and competing. I do feel like I’ll be a lifelong martial artist, whether I’m coaching others or taking exhibition matches and things like that.”
Sounds familiar, right? That’s often how retirement speeches begin. In fact, Jones has even claimed on social media that the UFC and Dana White are already aware of his plans for the future. He even headed to Thailand to film for ‘Russian TUF’, but still, no signs or clues of him returning to the Octagon to take on Tom Aspinall, or anyone else for that matter.
Jones further shared in the interview, “Right now I’m just focusing on love, happiness, kindness, we’re in the quarter-century mark, and this year should be a really special year. This year I’m saying yes to more opportunities.”
It’s this mindset, this ability to stay still while others wait, that has left the heavyweight division in limbo. Jon Jones isn’t just holding a belt, he’s holding the entire division hostage. And so, Daniel Cormier’s warning is clear. Wait long enough, and time stops being your friend. Michael Chandler learned that the hard way. And Tom Aspinall’s not looking to follow him down that path.
So the question becomes, should the UFC force Jon Jones to unify or vacate? Or should Aspinall just keep marching on and forget about ‘Bones’ altogether? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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