There has been a lot of talk recently in the UFC about the heavyweight division and the legacy of Jon Jones, he needs to prove he can beat Tom Aspinall to still be seen as a champion, considering Aspinall is the interim champ and has no one else to face. Besides Jon Jones’s last fight against Stipe Miocic, he hasn’t fought much recently. and people want to see him match up against the interim champ because that’s only logical the the holding champion has to face the interim champ, and that would be a much better way to go out and retire and at least defend his belt than to just dodge the fight and retire like that which could impact his legacy, so this is important not just for Aspinall, but also for Jones.
However, Jon Jones doesn’t want to fight him. Jones claims that “he hasn’t proven anything” and that “Aspinall is annoying” whilst “Aspinall’s recent track record shows that he should deserve a title shot against Jones though, as he is 15-3 and has won the majority of his fights by knockout. Alone, being the interim champion should give him a shot at Jones, and he has beaten competent opponents such as Alexander Volkov and Curtis Blaydes.
Another point is that Jon Jones was technically crowned champ back in 2020, and has only fought twice since then, in 2023 vs Ciryl Gane, and 2024 vs Stipe. Considering Jones had criminal charges looming over him in 2021, this disrupted his fight schedule and thus an interim title fight was arranged in which Aspinall won. Jones should still have to prove he is a worthy champ if he’s barely fought in 3 years, especially if someone like Aspinall is coming up as quick as he is.
Dana White, the owner of the UFC also has been reluctant to let the two match up. White Has shown to be a massive Jon Jones fan as well, considering he has said he is the greatest pound for pound fighter ever, so there is a chance White could be trying to protect Jones. Aspinall deserves this fight though, and it would be stupid if White And the UFC don’t set this up for him.
A lot has been said about legacy and the effect that dodging this fight would have on Jones. It would be unfair to Aspinal since he rightfully deserves a title fight at this point after crushing almost everyone else in his path. It’s safe to say that this fight needs to happen before Jones retires, which could be imminent.
