Former UFC fighter believes Dana White put Jon Jones “in his place” by stating that Tom Aspinall has to be next
Jon Jones has made it clear he wants to fight Alex Pereira next, but UFC CEO Dana White sent a crystal clear message to 'Bones' about his fighting future. The UFC's head honcho unequivocally stated that if Jones is hoping to fight one more time, it will be against Tom Aspinall.
Former UFC title challenger Dan Hardy believes White's unwillingness to grant Jones what he wanted has put the heavyweight champion "in his place." Hardy, who is now the Head of Fighter Operations at the Professional Fighters' League (PFL), joins White in believing that the only fight for 'Bones' was against Aspinall.
'The Outlaw' was recently interviewed by Submission Radio, where he shared his thoughts on the situation regarding the UFC's heavyweight division. He said this:
"Dana's comment at the press conference was quite telling about the situation, 'If Jon Jones wants to fight again he'll fight Tom Aspinall.' That was almost putting him in his place is what it felt like to me. Which, it's gonna be interesting to see how Jon reacts to that. He's certainly not going to take it very well. I don't think I would if I was him... But that's the way it's always operated."
Check out Dan Hardy's comments below (19:45):
Dan Hooker explains why Jon Jones vs. Alex Pereira will likely not happen
Jon Jones successfully defended his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309. In the week leading up to their clash, he shared his desire to face light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira next, a statement that fell flat with fans.
'Bones' went as far as saying he would vacate his heavyweight title in order to avoid holding up the division so that he could fight 'Poatan' without issue. But lightweight contender Dan Hooker believes that Jones' willingness to do so has made the fight less likely.
Hooker was recently interviewed by Submission Radio, where he said this:
"You see Pereira shoot to be the first three-division champion, which would be a pretty crazy accomplishment. So to take the title off the line, for me, it loses a lot of the reward for the huge risk that Alex would have to take to move up [to heavyweight]. The size would be a difficult thing to get over, the wrestling skillset of Jones and the submissions and the size would be huge obstacles for Alex to overcome. To take the chance with the heavyweight title off the line, it loses all reward for Alex."
Watch Hooker discuss Jon Jones vs. Alex Pereira below (18:50):