Hall of Fame star, Daniel Cormier claims current interim champion, Tom Aspinall is on the right track by taking his current tact against fellow champion, Jon Jones — claiming the Rochester native is simply “ducking” a title unification bout with him.
Aspinall, the current interim heavyweight champion, managed to avenge his single Octagon defeat earlier this summer at the end of July, landing a first round knockout win over perennial contender, Curtis Blaydes.
And staking his claim for a shot at the undisputed heavyweight championship later this annum in place of the returning, Stipe Miocic, Aspinall’s campaign has bared no fruit so far — with Jones in line to take on the Ohio native in November in the main event of UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden.
Daniel Cormier backs Tom Aspinall’s pursuit of Jon Jones fight
However, claiming the veteran former pound-for-pound number one, Jones is clearly avoiding a title unification bout with him later this annum, Aspinall’s tact has been praised by Cormier — a two-fight rival of Jones.
“The fact that he’s (Tom Aspinall) being as respectful as he was before is a massive, massive win for Tom Aspinall because before, it was easy to ignore him,” Daniel Cormier said on his podcast. “I believe that those guys should fight, but Jon (Jones) seems and I don’t know if he’s trolling. He really can be trolling because I don’t know Jon Jones to be openly saying, ‘I’m not just fighting that guy.’
In his most recent Octagon walk back in March of last year, former two-time light heavyweight champion, Jones managed to scoop the vacant heavyweight crown with a stunning first round win over Frenchman, Ciryl Gane.
Making his long-anticipated heavyweight divisional bow, Rochester veteran, Jones laid waste to the former interim titleholder with a first round guillotine choke submission win in the main event of UFC 285.