Long-time coach, Greg Jackson has weighed in on the ongoing debate of a fight between his student, Jon Jones and interim gold holder, Tom Aspinall — claiming the Rochester native could stop fighting as soon as he likes and would be completely fine with how his career played out.
Jon Jones, a current heavyweight champion, is slated to return to action next month in the main event of UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden, taking on former two-time champion, Stipe Miocic in his return to action in his native New York.
Sidelined since he won the vacant heavyweight crown back in March of last year, Jon Jones, a former two-time undisputed light heavyweight kingpin and pound-for-pound number one, managed to scoop the gold with a dominant opening round guillotine choke win over French contender, Ciryl Gane.
However, amid the emergence of British heavyweight talent, Aspinall — paired with the surging force’s interim title claim last November and defense against Curtis Blaydes back in July at UFC 304, fans and pundits alike have clamored for a title unification bout between the duo.
Greg Jackson backs Jon Jones’ dismissal of fight with Tom Aspinall
And while the links to a fight with the Atherton native continue to grow, Jon Jones has stressed that he will most likely retire from combat sports following his fight with Miocic next month, with the above-mentioned, Jackson claiming that he could likely just stop fighting in the morning if he fancied.
“I think because Stipe (Miocic) is so legendary — I mean, the guy’s one of the best heavyweights, Greg Jackson told the WEIGHING-IN podcast. “You could argue he’s one of the best heavyweights ever, so I think that’s the challenge that Jon (Jones) needs because there’s always going to be young guys coming up, there’s always going to be a new phenom, and there’s always going to be another guy that’s like, ‘Oh, this guy’s super tough.’ So I think the attraction for Jon in that is it’s really two legends fighting each other.”
At this point in Jon’s career, he doesn’t need to fight; he could stop today and be fine,” Jackson explained. “But I think that gets him up for Stipe — the idea of Stipe and how great he is, and how tough he is, and to compete against that. I think he’s looking for a legacy thing, in my opinion. I do know that we had this fight locked up before any of that drama happened, so to me, it would be a terrible move to tell Stipe, ‘Oh, never mind, we’re not gonna fight you after all; we’re gonna go after this guy.’ I mean, Stipe deserves better than that. He’s not only a great fighter but also a great guy.”