Jon Jones plays matchmaker for himself, as he picks among options Tom Aspinall, Alex Pereira and any other fighter: "Don’t think, just double tap"
Jon Jones does not doubt who he wants to fight next after his UFC 309 win over Stipe Miocic. Many expected Jones to call it a career after securing his first heavyweight title defense on Nov. 16. However, the 37-year-old clarified that he will continue to fight.
A recent post on UFC's official Instagram handle asked fans to share their opinion on whether Jones should fight Tom Aspinall, Alex Pereira, or someone else next.
Check out the post below:
Jones took to the comments section of the post and reiterated his desire to fight Pereira:
"Double champ in glory kickboxing, double champ in the UFC. Use this as the 'B all day' button right here. Don’t think, just double tap."
While social media reactions suggest fans' interest in the title unification bout between Jones and interim champion Tom Aspinall, 'Bones' has been inclined to fight Alex Pereira next.
The heavyweight champion has refused to fight Aspinall citing his relatively short list of accomplishments at the sport's highest level and feels a veteran like Pereira is the right matchup to further his legacy in the sport.
For the uninitiated, Pereira is the only fighter to win two divisional titles in two combat sports. He held the middleweight and light heavyweight titles in Glory Kickboxing and achieved a similar feat in the UFC after transitioning to MMA.
While both Pereira and Jones are down to fight each other, UFC CEO Dana White recently said that he would not book the fight given Jones' size advantage and strong wrestling.
Tom Aspinall thinks Jon Jones "secretly" wants to fight him
At the UFC 309 post-fight press conference, Jon Jones said he should be compensated handsomely to fight Tom Aspinall. During a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Aspinall shared his thoughts on Jones' statement. He said:
"I think he should be compensated well. I agree. Because I am a damn dangerous fight for him. the most dangerous of his career at this stage."
Jones' statements led many to believe that he was overpricing himself to avoid fighting Aspinall. Aspinall disagrees with the assessment as he said:
"[Jon Jones] secretly wants the fight because he has a gigantic ego. And he should have it because he is one of the best fighters ever. And he hates the fact that people are saying I can beat him. He can't sleep at night. He keeps mentioning it over and over again that he doesn't care about me and all that. Because this is all projecting, all of it!"
Check out Tom Aspinall's comments below (17:30):