Aspinall didn’t hesitate to admit a fight with MMA GOAT Jon Jones was scary, but in a good way.
Tom Aspinall is preparing for a potential summer return in Manchester, most likely against Curtis Blaydes. But no one wants to talk about that. Everyone wants to talk about Aspinall vs. Jon Jones.
Jones is currently the undisputed heavyweight champ, while Aspinall holds the interim belt. In a normal situation, Aspinall would get first crack at “Bones” when he returns from a pectoral injury. But Jones and the UFC are dead-set on a return fight against former champ Stipe Miocic, leaving Aspinall in a lurch.
Add in Jones’ well-documented plan to retire with a win over Miocic, and it’s feeling a bit silly to our man Tommy. During a fan Q&A on his YouTube channel, Aspinall was asked if he wanted to fight Jones, and if he feared the consensus GOAT.
“Well, I’m obviously confident that I could beat Jon Jones, because I want to fight him,” Aspinall said. “I’m not making it a secret that I want to fight him. I’ve done everything that I can until this point.”
“I want to prove that I’m the best in the world,” he added. “I want to fight Jon Jones, obviously. But he doesn’t, so there’s not a lot I can do about that.”
As for ‘fearing’ Jones, Aspinall was honest enough to admit fear is part of the fight game in general.
“Do I fear him? Absolutely,” he said. “I fear all of my opponents. Like, these guys are the best in the world, the absolute best in the world. Absolutely I fear him, but that fuels me.”
For now, Aspinall will have to continue competing in the shadow Jon Jones has cast over the heavyweight division. Will the two fight? Anything is possible, and Jones has said he feels more energized now than ever before. Will it happen in 2024? Jones has rehab, a Miocic fight, and then recovery ahead of him, so we’d say no.