‘Everyone’s The Next Big Thing Until I Beat Them’

Tom Aspinall may have caught Jones’ attention, but the UFC heavyweight champion doesn’t buy him as a legitimate challenge.

After earning a quick and dominant TKO win over Marcin Tybura at UFC London (watch the highlights here), Tom Aspinall made his case for an eventual title fight with heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

“Another goal of mine is I want to motivate Jon Jones to stick around and fight me,” he said at the post-fight press conference. “That is my absolute dream.”

Jones is set to fight Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 in November, and according to those close to him he may very well walk away from the sport with a win. His move up to heavyweight was partially spurred by a lack of legacy-building contenders at light heavyweight, and he doesn’t sound particularly interested in fighting the next generation of up-and-coming UFC heavyweights.

During an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Aspinall laid out what he’d bring to the table against Jones.

“He’s fought a lot of quicker guys before, nobody quicker than me,” he said. “Quicker than most heavyweights, being at light-heavyweight, obviously. But he’s never fought someone quicker than a light-heavyweight, who’s bigger than him before. Who, is super confident, with big fight IQ, not intimated, who’s young and fresh and doesn’t have a lot of miles on the clock. That’s what I think I bring to the table against Jon.”

In a set of quickly deleted tweets, “Bones” implied Aspinall is nothing special.

Twitter – Jon Jones

“Everyone’s the next big thing until I beat them,” he wrote. “And then it’s like well. Who was that guy anyway? Just a few months ago Gane was the absolute future of MMA. Best foot work, fastest heavy weight we have ever seen. The most athletic. Now everyone’s like who the hell is that guy.”

“Sometimes I feel like I’ve been in a déjà vu, everyone’s going to be the guy to kick my ass,” his second tweet read. “Meanwhile, I’m over here undefeated with a face full of gray hairs.”

The 36-year-old Jones is 29-1-1 with his sole ‘loss’ coming via dubious disqualification. His decade of dominance atop the 205-pound division is the stuff of legend, and his ease in capturing the heavyweight title launched him back into the G.O.A.T. discussion … just as he hoped it would. Legacy is a big factor in Jon’s comeback run: he’s reminding everyone who the best is, and then he’ll ride off into the sunset.

Unless a big enough challenge (or paycheck) lures him back.