Is Jon Jones actually ducking Tom Aspinall? Analyzing his past behavior with other potential opponents
Jon Jones ducking Tom Aspinall has become the latest chapter of his legendary career. With just days remaining until UFC 309, the top conversation isn't about his matchup with all-time great heavyweight Stipe Miocic. Instead, it has revolved around his refusal to face his division's interim champion.
But is the accusation true? Is Jones truly avoiding Aspinall in favor of easier matchups against foes with glaring holes in their games? After all, as a man widely regarded as history's greatest fighter, his legacy and records speak for themselves.
So, does examining his past shut down the ducking rumors or does it reinforce them?
Every time Jon Jones came close to fighting at heavyweight
While Jon Jones was praised for his effortless first-round submission of Ciryl Gane, a former UFC interim heavyweight champion, the fight had an asterisk next to it. That asterisk was the previous undisputed king of the 265-pound weight class, Francis Ngannou.
Ngannou left the promotion on bad terms, such that he has been involved in a public spat with its CEO, Dana White, ever since. Part of the enmity between the pair was the inability to book the Ngannou vs. Jones fight, which both men seemed keen about. However, depending on the narrative, one of them avoided the other.
In the past, White heavily implied that Jones did not want to fight Ngannou, and there's more than enough reason to believe his past claims. When Ngannou was the heavyweight champion, Jones had already vacated his light heavyweight title in pursuit of heavyweight greatness.
During an encounter, filmed by the PFL at PFL 8, Ngannou pointed out that Jones made no attempt to fight him, sitting out for three years.
"Oh, no. You sit back for three years?"
Check out Francis Ngannou questioning Jon Jones' logic (1:01):
Except, Jones claimed he wouldn't move up immediately. Instead, he wanted to bulk up properly so that by the time he and Ngannou crossed swords, he would have a heavyweight's true frame. However, when Jones finally made his divisional debut at UFC 285, he didn't look like someone who had slowly gained lean mass.
Jones looked much softer around the edges than many remembered. Yet now, in the leadup to his UFC 309 fight with Stipe Miocic, he seems to be in far better shape - almost as if he prepared seriously this time. It's likely that he wasn't training intensively while Ngannou was champion.
Once the easier and less dangerous matchup with Gane presented itself, Jones made the jump to heavyweight two months later. The timing was questionable, as Ngannou himself pointed out. He had waited for Jones for some time, but the moment he left the promotion was when the latter was ready.
Moreover, according to an MMA Fighting interview with White, who claimed that Jones asked for a purse in the realm of what heavyweight boxer Deontay Wilder earned. This is something 'Bones' has never done prior. He has never priced himself out with unrealistic demands.
"I'll quote him on what he [Jon Jones] had said to my lawyer. He told my lawyer [that to fight Francis Ngannou] he wants what Deontay Wilder was paid."
Check out Dana White criticizing Jon Jones' demands (4:18):
Yet, the failed bout with Ngannou saw him behave differently. If Jones were asked, he'd likely claim he merely wanted to be compensated for taking on such a dangerous fight, but to request a sum of money that only someone like Conor McGregor could demand was a battle he knew he wouldn't win.
Curiously, he was similarly evasive when Cain Velasquez and even Daniel Cormier were UFC heavyweight champions. 'Bones' spent years teasing a heavyweight move, with a dream fight with Velasquez on fans' minds. Sadly, he never committed to it besides exclaiming his confidence in beating him.
Like Ngannou, Velasquez was another fighter many believed could beat him. However, even someone Jones had beaten, like Cormier, was not a welcome fight for him at heavyweight. When talk of the two fighting during Cormier's days as the divisional kingpin was relevant, Jones shot it down.
Instead, Jones demanded that Cormier return to light heavyweight and face him there. The truth with Jones is clear: he does not accept fights against anyone he isn't convinced he can beat.
Where there is doubt, there is a duck. So, how does that relate to Tom Aspinall?
Jon Jones' avoidance of Tom Aspinall
The logic Jon Jones frequently uses to dismiss Tom Aspinall as a worthy foe is layered. First, it was that Aspinall wasn't a big enough name. Yet, now he is the fighter most mentioned to Jones. The heavyweight champion often argues with his detractors on X about Aspinall.
Like Jones previously tried claiming, this doesn't quite fit the description of a no-name fighter that only English fans care for. He is the only fighter the MMA world is clamoring to see him fight. Next, he claimed that Aspinall hadn't achieved anything of note. However, what else could he possibly do to earn the fight?
Aspinall has finished five fighters in the heavyweight top 10, including the #3 ranked Alexander Volkov, the #4 ranked Sergei Pavlovich, the #5 ranked Curtis Blaydes, the #7 ranked Serghei Spivac, and the #9 ranked Marcin Tybura. Furthermore, he is the interim heavyweight champion.
As the undisputed champion, Jones must unify the belts with the interim titleholder, especially one who has cleaned out his division more than the champion himself. Recently, Jones tried to undermine the merit of Aspinall as the interim titleholder, claiming that an interim fight should have never happened.
However, Jones is mistaken. By definition, an interim champion is crowned when the defending champion cannot fight for an extended period, and Jones had torn his pectoral tendon, only returning now, more than a year later. Additionally, he claimed to have already faced countless 'The Next Big Thing' fighters.
That, however, is untrue. Almost everyone Jones has fought has been either a seasoned and even legendary fighter before they shared the octagon or a fighter his age or older. The only fighters Jones fought who weren't older than him were Alexander Gustafsson, Anthony Smith, Dominick Reyes, and Ciryl Gane.
However, Gustafsson is Jones' age, Smith is a year younger, and both Reyes and Gane are just three years younger. It was an inaccurate narrative used to diminish Aspinall as a challenger. Jones' avoidance of him peaked when he seemed intent on watching him lose to Blaydes in the pair's rematch.
After Aspinall won, Jones fielded the recent argument that the Englishman does nothing for his legacy. Now, what exactly does Miocic do? Legacies are evaluated by the consumer, not the author. Jones is the artist and MMA fans are the consumers. The greatness of his art is for the fans to decide.
The MMA fandom has collectively decided to lambast his desire to fight Miocic. Why else would he spend so much time arguing with strangers on X? Miocic, while an all-time great heavyweight, is also 42 years old, hasn't fought in three years, and was knocked out in his last fight.
To make matters worse, every top-five fighter Aspinall has beaten is currently ranked higher than Miocic, besides Tybura. Fighting Aspinall, who many believe can beat him, is worth more to Jones' legacy than fighting an over-the-hill Miocic who was knocked out in his last fight three years ago.
Speaking in a recent interview with Aaron Bronsteter, Jones presented another possibility for his post-UFC 309 fight:
"Fighting [Alex] Pereira for the BMF belt. That would be cool."
Check out Jon Jones choosing Alex Pereira over Tom Aspinall (1:38):
Fans expect him to beat Miocic, so he'll get little credit for it. Fewer, though, expect him to beat Aspinall. But the risk is too great, so he'd rather face Miocic and retire, or face Alex Pereira, a fighter with a glaring wrestling and grappling weakness that even Israel Adesanya, Jiří Procházka, and Jan Błachowicz exploited. All strikers.
If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it probably is.