Tom Aspinall told he has landed 'massive win' in Jon Jones feud by UFC legend as he pushes for heavyweight title showdown
24/08/2024 14:06
Tom Aspinall has begun to take some victories in his cold war with Jon Jones, according to one legendary former champion.
The hard-hitting Brit is one of the UFC’s most exciting prospects, with an octagon time averaging out at an historic low of just two minutes and two seconds. But despite his fast-rising star, it appears that showdown for the undisputed heavyweight title against Jones is miles from happening.
However, Aspinall has begun to advance his trash talking towards the legendary two-weight world champion as he looks to unify their two belts. The Manchester native is interim champion, while Jones holds the undisputed belt.
Tom Aspinall told he has landed ‘massive win’ with new Jon Jones trash talk
One of Jon Jones’ greatest ever rivals is his fellow two-weight world champion Daniel Cormier. And the top wrestler believes that Tom Aspinall is now finally taking victories in his feud with Jones by dropping his nice guy persona in favour of more aggressive trash talking.
Despite winning the interim title and even defending it, it appears that Aspinall is not moving closer to an opportunity to unify the belts. Instead, Jones is facing former champion Stipe Miocic in a legacy fight at Madison Square Garden in November.
"The fact that he's not being as respectful as he was before is a massive, massive win for Tom Aspinall because before, it was easy to ignore him," Cormier told fellow MMA legend Ben Askren on their show Funky and the Champ.
"I believe that those guys should fight, but Jon seems – and I don't know if he's trolling; he really can be trolling because I don't know Jon Jones to be openly saying, 'I'm just not fighting that guy.’ That doesn't seem to be his personality.
"But when you read that post on X [formerly Twitter], how do you not take from that that he just doesn't want to fight this kid?
“He could flat-out say, 'This man is afraid to fight me,' and people draw to that like nothing you've seen before. And when [Jones] says that, openly say, 'OK, I'm the backup fighter for New York City.’"
Tom Aspinall offers update towards potential Jon Jones showdown
While the fight seems to be getting further and further away, Tom Aspinall is not giving up the ghost easily. After defending his belt at UFC 304 against Curtis Blaydes, he has been on the war path towards his rival as he pushes for gold.
He is willing to step in on just hours’ notice as a back-up if either man is pulled from their New York showdown. And he will travel to the event, in hopes of finally landing his chance to unify the belts at heavyweight.
“Jon Jones had an amazing career,” he said in a recent YouTube video. “I ain’t putting Jon Jones down. Jon Jones isn’t the best heavyweight in the world right now. That’s me, so I want what’s mine. I’m p***ed off for greatness.
“I believe that I should be the number one heavyweight in the world. I feel like I’ve done what it takes to deserve that and I’m ready to prove it. Jon Jones isn’t. That’s all. My issue with Jon Jones is he’s got the belt and I want it.
“I want it. I’ve got the belt too and I want to unify the belts. There shouldn’t be two heavyweight champions. There should be one.”
Jon Jones rubbishes fan demand for Tom Aspinall fight as ‘begging’
However, if Jones gets his way it doesn’t seem like Aspinall will be getting anywhere near the title. At 37-years-old and after multiple breaks lasting a number of years, he appears set on retirement by year’s end, with seemingly just one more fight.
And he has mocked fans pushing for him to take on one final big challenge. After watching Aspinall struggle to stay up in a video wrestling with an untrained rugby player, the American mocked his grappling.
“Looks like Tom displaying that amazing UK wrestling,” he wrote. “My focus is on Stipe, he actually wrestled division one. Best heavyweight of all time as of right now. Maybe Tom will go on and beat Stipe’s record one day, right now I'm focusing on goat things.”
And when a fan claimed he was making excuses, Jones responded that “You guys have been really begging me lately.” He then asked “Is the heavyweight division really that boring without me?”
