Tom Aspinall admitted that Jon Jones doesn’t appear to be “in good shape” after the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion made an appearance at the PFL vs. Bellator event in Saudi Arabia.
Jones has been on the sidelines since capturing the heavyweight title with a quick finish of Ciryl Gane in May. ‘Bones’ was originally scheduled to defend his belt against two-time titleholder Stipe Miocic at UFC 295, but he suffered a pectoral injury in the weeks leading up to the bout, forcing him to bow out.
Despite his inactivity in the Octagon, Jones has been making public appearances, including a trip to Thailand where he visited a few gyms, and at Bellator’s joint event with PFL. Fans quickly noticed that Jones was looking heftier than usual, even with the pounds he packed on for his move from 205 to heavyweight. Though the criticism was mostly light-hearted, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou — who was also in attendance at the PFL event — noted that ‘Bones’ looked “f*cking fat.”
“In your dreams. You are f*cking fat.”
Francis Ngannou’s immediate reaction to Jon Jones claiming he’d beat him
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— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) February 24, 2024
Reigning over the UFC’s heavyweight division in Jones Jones’ absence, interim champion Tom Aspinall offered his own take on the MMA GOAT’s pleasantly plump appearance.
“Just because he doesn’t look in good shape doesn’t mean that he can’t fight very well because he is Jon Jones and is one of the best to have ever done it,” Aspinall said in an interview with Bettson. “I don’t know Jon personally and I’m not connected to him in that way, so I don’t know where he is mentally. I’d love him to fight and keep going so I get a chance to fight him but who knows.”
Standing 6’5″ and tipping the scales at over 260 pounds, Aspinall knows a thing or two about how quickly a fighter his size can appear to be out of shape after just a few short months of inactivity.
“Yeah, for instance, if I don’t train for a couple of months, I’m going to look in bad shape so that’s the way it is,” Aspinall explained. “As a big guy, you need to be eating a lot of calories and if you’re not burning them, there’s only one place they’re going to go. Jon looks heavy right now but maybe that’s normal for him to look like that outside of training camp.”