Former UFC title challenger Dominick Reyes believes Jon Jones’ avoidance of a title unification fight with Tom Aspinall is…
Former UFC title challenger Dominick Reyes believes Jon Jones’ avoidance of a title unification fight with Tom Aspinall is all about “risk management.”
Bones’ returned from a three-year-long layoff last March, walking into a heavyweight title fight with top-ranked contender Ciryl Gane. Jones made quick work of ‘Bon Gamin’ and was slated to defend the strap against consensus GOAT Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 in November. Unfortunately, Jones suffered a torn pectoral weeks before their scheduled scrap.
Instead, fans were treated to an interim heavyweight title fight pitting Tom Aspinall against Sergei Pavlovich. Aspinall came out on top, scoring a 69-second KO against the Russian knockout artist.
Typically, an interim titleholder moves on to fight the undisputed champ upon their return. However, it didn’t take long for Aspinall to realize that a fight with Jones wasn’t in his future. With the UFC determined to rebook Jones vs. Miocic for some time in 2024, it’s becoming more and more apparent that Aspinall will never get his dream match against ‘Bones.’
Aspinall Fight is ‘Too Dangerous’ For Jon Jones
Speaking with James Lynch in a MiddleEasy exclusive interview, Reyes, a former foe of Jon Jones inside the Octagon, understands why ‘Bones’ is avoiding a fight with Aspinall, likening it to when the two-division champ refused to sign on the dotted line for their own rematch following UFC 247.
“I completely understand where Jon [Jones] is coming from,” Reyes said. “Jon is Jon Jones, say his name anywhere in the world, and people recognize it. Fighting Tom [Aspinall] is a risk management thing. It’s almost the same reason why he didn’t rematch me kind of thing. It’s too dangerous and not enough payoff. Tom is an excellent fighter” (h/t MMA News).
In the eyes of many, Dominick Reyes should have walked away with the light heavyweight title after his five-round war with Jones in 2020.
Seeing a lot of himself in Aspinall, ‘The Devastator’ believes their potential meeting is a “super dangerous” one that offers minimal upside for ‘Bones’ when it comes to both money and legacy.
“Tom is very similar to myself, but he’s a heavyweight,” Reyes added. “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.”
Tom Aspinall was all in on a “freak show” fight against Brock Lesnar at UFC 300. Since winning the…
Tom Aspinall was all in on a “freak show” fight against Brock Lesnar at UFC 300.
Since winning the interim heavyweight world title in November, Aspinall has been in a bit of a holding pattern as undisputed champ Jon Jones recovers from a pectoral injury. Even when Jones returns, ‘Bones’ has his sights set on a divisional superfight with former two-time titleholder Stipe Miocic instead of the much more logical and intriguing unification clash with Aspinall.
As a result, rumors have been flying about some potential big-money matchups for the Salford, England native. During a recent interview with OLBG, Aspinall expected the promotion to pull together something crazy, like a fight with former heavyweight king Brock Lesnar or a champion vs. champion showdown with Alex Pereira.
“With the Jones palaver and all the politics around that, I was thinking they’d maybe give me some freak show kind of fight against Brock Lesnar, or maybe at UFC 300 they’d do something a bit out there like Alex Pereira but that doesn’t look likely now, I have no idea my next move, I’m kind of waiting about,” Aspinall said.
Tom Aspinall Eyeing Rematch with Curtis Blaydes
Aspinall has stayed ready for a potential appearance at the promotion’s next landmark event on April 13, but as we inch closer to the highly anticipated date, it’s looking more and more like he will enjoy the festivities from the stands instead of in the Octagon.
“I absolutely would be ready for UFC 300, I believe now it’s only three months away and I have been training twice a day since a week after my last fight, so my body is in good shape right now,” Aspinall added. “But there isn’t really a realistic opponent. The only realistic ones would be Pereira or Lesnar and they’re not really realistic.”
The most logical fight out there for Aspinall at the moment is a rematch with the only man who holds a victory over him under the UFC banner, Curtis Blaydes. Razor’ is scheduled for a scrap with Jailton Almeida at UFC 299 on March 9. Should he pass his test against the submission specialist, Blaydes could be in for a shot at Aspinall’s interim strap.
“I think I’ll have a rematch with Curtis Blaydes in the UK,” Aspinall said. “I’ve got one loss on my (UFC) record and it’s by injury to Blaydes. And if he wins his next fight – which is a tough fight – if he wins it makes sense to do me and him again at this point, because let’s be honest, I’m not going to get the Jones or Miocic fight the way it’s going. I like Curtis, but professionally he has a win over me and I don’t want him to.”
Current interim heavyweight world champion Tom Aspinall accepted a fight with Stipe Miocic for UFC 300. Ever since his…
Current interim heavyweight world champion Tom Aspinall accepted a fight with Stipe Miocic for UFC 300.
Ever since his title-winning performance against Sergei Pavlovich in November, Aspinall has been pushing hard for a unification clash with undisputed champ Jon Jones. Typically, the interim titleholder would go on to fight the linear champion, no ifs, and, or buts, but Aspinall has found himself in an unfavorable situation that could keep him sitting on the sidelines for the next year.
Instead, Jones, who is currently recovering from a pectoral tear, will return to fight the man he was originally scheduled to defend his title against at UFC 295, Stipe Miocic. The winner of that fight would then unify his belt with Aspinall’s, in theory. Even that is the subject of much debate as both ‘Bones’ and Miocic are slated to retire once their heavyweight superfight is in the books.
Recently, Tom Aspinall dropped a bombshell on social media, revealing that the UFC had contacted him about a potential fight with Stipe Miocic at the promotion’s next landmark event on April 13. Aspinall says he accepted the fight only for Miocic to turn it down, opting to wait for Jones.
“While we are talking about @stipemiocic , my manager was contacted by the UFC asking if I’d like to fight him on apr 13th. I, of course, accepted,” Aspinall wrote on X.
“A little later, we were told that @stipemiocic doesn’t want to fight me, and only interested in fighting @JonnyBones,” Aspinall added.
Tom Aspinall Throws In The Towel
With Jones still recovering from injury, there’s no anticipated date for Jones vs. Miocic, though summer 2024 is looking likely. Acquiescing to the fact that he won’t be fighting either UFC legend anytime soon (or ever), Aspinall has teased a potential UFC 300 clash with Alex Pereira, though it’s starting to look like the UK fan favorite will be sitting out of the promotion’s mega-sized centennial card.
“On that note. I will stop crying, accept it ain’t gonna happen and enjoy the fight that me and all the other fans want to see. Legend vs legend for the heavyweight title. Maximum respect guys. Yay,” Aspinall concluded.
Interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall reveals hate messages he has received since he began campaigning for a Jon…
Interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall reveals hate messages he has received since he began campaigning for a Jon Jones fight.
Since the dispatching of Sergei Pavlovich in little over a minute, Aspinall cemented himself as the clear number one contender to Jon Jones. However, the UFC are keen to rebook Jones Vs. Stipe Miocic after jones had to withdraw from the fight due to injury.
Aspinall has taken to social media in an attempt to make his case to be the one to face Jones next rather than Miocic, who despite his previous career success has not won a fight since September 2020. Tom Aspinall even said he would face Miocic next but will likely have to wait if he wants his next fight to be for UFC gold.
Tom Aspinall reveals he has received death threats
Sports fans can be a passionate bunch, however, there is always that small portion to take it too far. Social media has made it easier for toxic fanbases to get access to athletes, often sending vile and hateful messages.
“People on the internet are wild,” Aspinall said. “You have to kind of see it for what it is. It’s not real life, a lot of it comes from jealousy. People don’t like to see other people do well, unfortunately that’s the way of the world. With a lot of love comes a lot of hate as well. That’s the way the cookie crumbles unfortunately.”
“I’m human so it affects me sometimes,” the 30-year-old continued. “But I try to just turn a blind eye to it and just crack on. The internet is a strange place. I clicked on my message requests by accident the other day and people are sending me death threats for wanting to fight Jon Jones, who’s the best in the world and it’s madness. You just think what the f*** is going on in your life that you want to say that you want to kill somebody else because they want to fight, it’s madness.” (H/T OLBG)
Should Tom Aspinall be next in line for Jon Jones?
With him failing to secure a title unification clash against Jon Jones anytime soon, interim heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall…
With him failing to secure a title unification clash against Jon Jones anytime soon, interim heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall is in the market for another prospective opponent.
UFC 300 is quickly filling up with a plethora of fantastic matchups with many more still to come. In recent weeks, Alex Pereira has teased an impending announcement leading fans to believe that he will be part of the promotion’s massive milestone event. While in all likelihood, ‘Poatan’ will defend his light heavyweight title against one of the division’s deserving contenders, rumors are flying that Pereira could go for a third UFC title on April 13.
In a quick clip shared by Bloody Elbow on X, Aspinall welcomed a title fight with Pereira, noting that he’s not usually one for bullying smaller fighters, but if ‘Poatan’ wants it, he can get it.
“If he wants to, I will, but I’m going on record saying, I’m not a bully,” Aspinall said. “I don’t bully smaller guys, but if the smaller guy wants to scrap, I’m in.”
After snatching the middleweight title from Israel Adesanya in late 2022, Pereira moved onto the 205-pound division and scored his second bit of UFC gold, knocking out former champion Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295 in November.
Russian powerhouse Magomed Ankalaev made a strong case for himself as Pereira’s first challenger after delivering a nose-shattering shot against Johnny Walker at last weekend’s event inside The APEX. Ankalaev moved to 10-1 under the UFC banner and 19-1-1 overall and is currently holding things down as the No. 3 ranked light heavyweight in the world.
Chael Sonnen recently spoke wisdom about the Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall situation and devised a cunning game plan…
Chael Sonnen recently spoke wisdom about the Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall situation and devised a cunning game plan to end the controversial saga.
Everybody knows who Jon Jones is. For seemingly eons, he’s been the pinnacle of the world’s toughest sport. He is the crème de la crème of MMA, and that has not came without controversy.
Dana White once said the most brilliant thing about Jon Jones that anybody has probably ever said: that the man could’ve been the Lebron James of MMA. It’s true. From a hit and run on a pregnant woman, to failing PED tests, and more. Jon Jones has been a controversial figure in the game for a very long time. Not Lebron James-like at all (who has never been in any scandals and has always been a great role model).
Now, at the end of his career, there’s more controversy for Jones. Tom Aspinall defeated the terrifying knockout artist Sergei Pavlovich to capture an interim heavyweight title, and Aspinall beat him at his own game. In Aspinall’s own words, he has had his Michael Bisping moment. He knocked out the fearsome Russian and captured the throne.
Yet, he didn’t really capture the throne. Since Jon Jones is the undisputed heavyweight champion, Aspinall captured more of an imitation throne. Like a less meaningful replica almost. Now, Aspinall’s legacy will be forever marred. The electric British man wants action with Jon Jones, but Jones doesn’t want to play. Cue the controversy.
Chael Sonnen Explains how Jon Jones can settle the Tom Aspinall Controversy
Speaking on his podcast, You’re Welcome, Chael Sonnen spoke out about his former rival and the current controversy surrounding him.
“Jon does not enjoy that side of [MMA], he doesn’t understand it,” Sonnen said (H/T MMA Fighting) “He thinks the most money, the most accolades should go to whoever can beat up the most people. So Jon could end it. He could end something that he doesn’t want to keep continuing by saying one word, which is yes. But you want to know something?”
“Jon Jones could also end this by saying one word, which is no. ‘No, I’m planning to do one more. My plans have not changed for you. I plan to fight Stipe Miocic, who’s great. Stipe might be the one to bring me down. We’ll find out that night, but he might not. That’d be another notch and it will be enough. My plans don’t involve you.’ He could do that.”
“Daniel Cormier dismissed effectively Curtis Blaydes. I was there the night that he did it, he did it on the ESPN desk. He’d just got done fighting, Curtis had called him out and Daniel was a gentleman. He said, ‘Hey, that guy’s good. He’s got reach, his striking’s improved, a national champion wrestler, he’s younger, and he’s got a great career in front of him. But he and I will never share the octagon.’ And Daniel didn’t say it’s because it’s not a competitive fight. He didn’t say he was better than him. He didn’t even say he could beat him. He said, ‘I’m a champion, I get [pay-per-view] points. I fight people that have big names. You don’t.’”
“He leveled with him straight up,” Sonnen continued. “Never got into who’s better, whose legacy, who should remembered more. Daniel told the actual truth, which is, ‘I can’t make any money fighting you. You’re a dangerous fight that doesn’t bring money. Winning fights doesn’t get you to me, just so you know. I know they’ve told you that, but it’s not true. I know the magazines tell you that getting a high ranking brings you to me — I’m letting you know now, it doesn’t. Win over the crowd that’s willing to stop what they’re doing, part with their money and time to watch you, and that’s how you get to me. And you didn’t do that.’”
Sonnen Continues Spitting flame
“It was so effective, it was never discussed again,” Chael Sonnen continued. Curtis Blaydes versus Daniel Cormier, when Daniel was champion, was never discussed again. So Jon Jones could come out and say, ‘You’re young and you’re good and I’m not looking for that. No.’ Or he could say, ‘You suck. No,’ but it would still be definitive and he could end this. Or he could say, ‘Yes. Let’s stick with the plan. I have Stipe first and then I will come see you.’”
Sonnen firmly believes that Jon Jones is making this situation worse for himself by not just speaking out and being firm about his choice. Aspinall has been relentless in his pursuit of either Stipe Miocic or Jones and has been largely succeeding in turning fans against Jones (not that he needed much help for that).
“It’s kind of like, why does he not get himself a driver? Why would he not part [with] some money? If you’re giving a stripper $10,000 that you’re never going to see again, why would you not hire a writer for $10,000? He’ll work, he’ll be there the whole year. That’s about what it would cost for somebody to manage your Twitter page — about $10,000 for the whole year for a real top guy, a WWE guy, a guy who has worked in Hollywood. A real top professional writer, that’s about what it would cost. And you know Jon doesn’t have a driver, that’s how he’s got DUIs, and you know he doesn’t have a writer, that’s why he’s got typos.”
“What is it that we’re doing? What is it we’re trying to do?” Sonnen continued. “Jon could end this by saying yes or no. Jon has the power either way. His reasons don’t matter, at all.
“There’s a way to get some clarity, there’s a way to muddy these waters, and there’s a way to do what Daniel did and say, ‘You’re just not popular.’ Whatever the reason is, you’ve got to give a guy an answer, yes or no, or we just keep doing this. Generally, I would be OK [if this feud continued]. Like if this was Conor [McGregor] or somebody entertaining or fun, I would hope that it would continue. [But] you guys aren’t fun. This is boring.”
Do you think Chael Sonnen was on-point with his critique of how Jon Jones has been handling this situation?