Jon Jones doesn’t want to fight Tom Aspinall.
We last saw the current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight champion, Jones, at his longtime home of Light Heavyweight in February 2020. “Bones” successfully defended his title at UFC 247 via a controversial unanimous decision against Dominick Reyes, who has since claimed the all-time great refused an immediate rematch before going on his three-year hiatus and moving up in weight.
Unfortunately for Reyes, he’s lost his three fights since Jones all by knockout. Meanwhile, Jones is currently on the mend from a pectoral muscle tear and elbow surgery that removed him from his dream match up with former Heavyweight champion, Stipe Miocic, this past November 2023. The aforementioned Aspinall then became the interim champion as a result, but has to wait for Jones and Miocic to collide upon the undisputed titlist’s return. Watching the saga play out with the rest of us, “The Devastator” has gotten flashbacks to his own situation with the legend.
“I completely understand where Jon is coming from,” Reyes told MiddleEasy. “Jon is Jon Jones. Say his name anywhere in the world and people recognize it. Fighting Tom is a risk management thing. It’s almost the same reason why he didn’t rematch me. It’s too dangerous and not enough payoff. Tom is an excellent fighter.
“Tom is very similar to myself, but he’s a Heavyweight,” he continued. “That’s super dangerous. He moves extremely well, he’s very quick, his wrestling is really good, his grappling is good, his power is off the charts. How is that gonna benefit Jon? Beating the most recent champion? Nah, let’s fight the greatest Heavyweight of all time, Stipe Miocic … Jon is a great himself, so he’s going to fight another active great.”
Reyes, 34, was supposed to make his return to action against Carlos Ulberg at UFC 297 last month (Jan. 20, 2024). They were rebooked for UFC Atlantic City next month (Sat., March 30, 2024) until Reyes revealed a life-threatening blood clot forced him from the bout.