Former UFC fighter believes Jon Jones’ potential hidden agenda for Tom Aspinall fight has left him looking bad: “A telling statement"
Jon Jones has cast a bad light upon himself with his recent comments about Tom Aspinall, believes former UFC fighter Dan Hardy. 'Bones' has been adamant that he will not risk his legacy against someone like Aspinall, who Jones believes has yet to achieve anything of note in MMA.
But the general consensus is that Aspinall is without a doubt the toughest matchup for the American. Given that many fans, as well as UFC CEO Dana White, regard Jones as the greatest fighter of all-time, his apparent refusal to fight the Manchester native has not gone down well with fans.
The 38-year old has been accused of "ducking" the interim champion, and during a recently interview with Submission Radio, Hardy analyzed the heavyweight title picture.
'The Outlaw' said this:
"I don't think it was good for his brand to say those things about Tom. What I want from a champ in any division, especially the heavyweight champ, I want them to say, 'Any person, put them in front of me, I'll destroy them.' Because that's what we want the heavyweight champ to be."
He continued:
"As soon as you hear that person say, 'I don't want to fight this guy. Who is he? Is it worth my time? Is it worth risking my legacy?' That was very much a telling statement... It just didn't seem like a good look to me... Maybe Jon is negotiating publicly, he's trying to increase the value of the fight... Even if that's the case, I still don't think it worked out well for Jon to say those things."
Check out Dan Hardy's comments on Jon Jones below (14:20):
Tom Aspinall confirms negotiations for Jon Jones fight have begun
Tom Aspinall was the official back-up fighter for Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic, which took place on Nov. 16 at UFC 309.
Many fans felt that Aspinall, who holds in interim heavyweight title, should have been the man stood across from Jones on fight night. But following a third-round victory for 'Bones', it appears that a heavyweight title unification bout is in the works.
During a recent fan Q&A, Aspinall was asked to share an update on his next fight, and said this:
"We're in negotiations right now, is the honest answer. So we don't know when the fight is gonna be. But I'll be ready to go whenever."
Watch Tom Aspinall discuss fighting Jon Jones below (3:50):