"Final piece of business" - Jon Jones' former opponent thinks 'Bones' won't retire unless he faces Tom Aspinall
A former opponent of Jon Jones recently asserted that 'Bones' won't consider retirement until he goes head-to-head with Tom Aspinall.
Last November, the reigning heavyweight champion was set to defend his title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 295. However, a torn pectoral muscle sidelined Jones, leading to the postponement of the fight.
Consequently, Tom Aspinall stepped up on short notice to face the original backup fighter, Sergei Pavlovich, for the interim heavyweight title. The Brit swiftly claimed victory, securing the belt in just over a minute into the first round.
Following his win, Aspinall advocated for a title unification showdown with Jones. However, 'Bones' declined the proposal, opting instead to express his intention to reschedule his bout with Miocic and even hinted at the possibility of hanging up his gloves after that fight.
During a recent video on his YouTube channel, Chael Sonnen, who faced off against Jones at UFC 159 in April 2013, claimed that his former adversary has no plans to retire until he steps into the cage with Aspinall:
"I, Chael Sonnen, do not believe Jon Jones is going retire. I do not believe Jon Jones would go anywhere until he handles one final piece of business, which will be against Tom Aspinall."
Sonnen added that should Aspinall square off against Ciryl Gane, it would effectively eliminate any chance of a future matchup between Jones and Aspinall:
"Now, if you put Ciryl opposite Tom, Ciryl gets to jump on him, and you will, in effect, be retiring Jon Jones."
Check out Chael Sonnen's comments below (4:30):
Following his surgeries, Jones recently took to Instagram to announce that he has resumed full training at the gym for the first time since suffering the injury.
Tom Aspinall recognizes Jon Jones' strategic decision to evade faceoff
Despite his persistent callouts, Tom Aspinall eventually refrained from actively pursuing a fight with Jon Jones.
However, he revived the possibility when they encountered each other at the Arnold Sports Festival in Birmingham, England, last month.
Aspinall noted that 'Bones' deliberately chose not to engage in a faceoff despite the Brit's request for one
During an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani (via MMA Fighting), Aspinall stated:
"I wanted to face off. Jon’s smart, you know? ... Jon will not say anywhere — you can’t find it, it’s not out there — that he will fight me. He won’t say it anywhere publicly. He won’t say it. You can’t find a clip, a quote, nothing, anywhere, of Jones saying, ‘One day I’m going to fight Tom Aspinall, and I’m going to freaking beat the brakes off him.' He doesn’t want to do a faceoff because that promotes a potential fight."