Alexander Volkov accuses Jon Jones of 'cutting the line' for UFC gold, says Tom Aspinall's claim is way more "honest"
Heavyweight contender Alexander Volkov has criticized Jon Jones’ path to the UFC heavyweight title, suggesting Tom Aspinall's rise was more deserving.
Speaking ahead of his UFC 310 bout against Ciryl Gane, Volkov shared his thoughts on the ongoing debate about the next rightful title challenger. 'Drago' argued that Aspinall’s route to securing the interim heavyweight belt was earned through legitimate competition in the division.
He implied that Jones, 37, bypassed traditional merit by immediately claiming the championship after moving up from light heavyweight. In a clip shared by Red Corner MMA on their Instagram handle, the towering Russian said:
“In my opinion, Tom is more deserving of the champion belt in heavyweight than Jon Jones. I can’t say Jon Jones is a bad fighter or he can’t beat Tom Aspinall or something but the way Tom Aspinall got exactly in the heavyweight. His way to take this belt in heavyweight, it was more honest to give him this heavyweight belt. I mean Jon Jones kind of cut the line, you know?”
Check out Alexander Volkov's comments below:
Jones recently defended his title at UFC 309, defeating Stipe Miocic. However, the reigning champion has been reluctant to commit to a unification bout with Aspinall, instead eyeing a super-fight with Alex Pereira.
UFC CEO Dana White has called a Jones-Aspinall clash “the biggest heavyweight fight in UFC history,” leaving fans eager for clarity on the division’s future.
Tom Aspinall shares his take on Jon Jones avoiding title unification fight
Tom Aspinall has shared his perspective on Jon Jones’ refusal to commit to a title unification bout, suggesting it could be a calculated marketing tactic. The British heavyweight champion has been pursuing a fight with Jones since winning the interim title at UFC 295 last year, but Jones has focused on defending his belt against former champion Stipe Miocic instead.
On 'Fight Labs via TNT Sports, Aspinall acknowledged Jones’ approach as a strategic move to heighten anticipation. He explained that typically, fighters deflect questions about future opponents until their next match is settled. However, 'Bones' deviated from this norm, repeatedly dismissing the idea of facing Aspinall in interviews and social media exchanges:
“Day one, as a professional UFC fighter, if someone asks you about some other opponent, say I’m fighting [interviewer Adam Catterall] this weekend, if someone asks me, ‘Right, what about this other guy who’s not involved?’ I say, ‘I’m gonna get past Adam and then we’ll speak about him."
He added:
“Jon didn’t do that. Jon immediately starts saying, ‘No, I don’t want to fight Tom,’ which the easiest thing in the world would be, ‘I’m gonna talk about it after Saturday. I’m not talking about it this week,’ but he kept bringing that into the conversation, and that is high-level business, really high level.”
Check out Tom Aspinall's comments on Jon Jones below (12:29):