Jon Jones: Aspinall’s Disrespect Cost Him The Fight – ‘This Influencer, A Big Mouth’
Jon Jones says Tom Aspinall’s disrespect is the reason why he won’t get a fight with him.
Jones makes the second defense of his UFC Heavyweight Title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309. He won the belt after submitting Cyril Gane at UFC 285 last year. It was a remarkable return to the sport after around three years away. However, his return was disrupted. He was meant to face Miocic at UFC 295. But he pulled up with a pectoral muscle injury. Jones did not receive a lot of sympathy, as there were calls for him to be stripped. Tom Aspinall made that request. However, the UFC refused as Tom fought for the interim belt. Aspinall defended the interim belt against Curtis Blaydes in his last fight, stopping him in the first round at UFC 304.
Dana White has already said Tom will fight the winner of Jones-Miocic. Jones has faced much criticism after suggestions that he could retire after the Miocic fight or take on Alex Pereira instead, fuelling the narrative that he is ducking Aspinall. Tom has made that claim, suggesting Jones did the same thing by not fighting Francis Ngannou. Jones talked up Pereira’s accomplishments, respecting him more, as he dismissed Aspinall altogether.
Jones On Aspinall
“There’s a part of me that does [want to compete with him], but if I’m being completely honest, I feel like Tom’s been such an a**hole that I don’t want to do business with him. His fans have been so annoying. Obviously, you don’t get this far getting affected by fans and whatnot… He’s 30, so he’s from this influencer generation where you hop online, t-shirt sales, and all that. I’m past that type of stuff. If you had a little bit more respect, maybe we could’ve worked something out…
“I don’t even want to give him the opportunity, he just played his cards wrong with me. I’m three years away from being a 40-year-old, grown man. The press conference, going through the whole shebang with him, I’d just rather not do. [Alex] Pereira on the other hand, is respectful, cool, and doesn’t say much. I’ll do business with you, I’d risk it all with a human being like you. And [Pereira] absolutely has the accolades… This other guy is just a big mouth, who is just hot today,” Jones said
Co-Main Event
In chief support, Michael Chandler will rematch Charles Oliveira. They faced each other in 2021 at UFC 262. Oliveira stopped Chandler in the second round to retain his UFC Lightweight Title. Chandler took the fight after the Conor McGregor bout for UFC 303 was cancelled. McGregor withdrew with a broken toe, leaving question marks over his future. Chandler has not had a UFC fight since 2022, when he lost to Dustin Poirier at UFC 281.
As for Oliveira, he is coming off a split-decision defeat to Armen Tsarukyan at UFC 300. The winner will take themselves closer to a title shot or throw themselves in the conversation to face McGregor. McGregor still has no fight lined up. While the Irishman stated that he would fight Dan Hooker on February 1 in Saudi Arabia, the UFC has not made a formal announcement, leaving the winner with an opportunity to grab that bout. Chandler’s focus was a title shot and the McGregor fight, but he does not see himself rematching Poirier.
“I mean, Dustin’s got a win over me. He’s never going to take the chance in one of his couple of fights to put it on the line and lose to me. To have that stain on him, for the rest of his life. So, I know that for sure. I’m not really worried about it. I will be ranked ahead of him Saturday night at midnight, when I beat Charles Oliveira. We’ve got other options. Max for the ‘BMF’ belt, Islam for the title obviously. You’ve still got the Conor fight. There’s a lot of options for me, and I don’t think he’s necessarily one of them at all. Maybe someday we’ll squash the beef, probably not,” Chandler said
Comments
Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com.
