Jon Jones shuts down fan mentioning Tom Aspinall's interim title defense: "I’ve been here for every generation of fighters"
Jon Jones recently went on the offensive by shutting down a fan who was criticising him for not fighting Tom Aspinall, despite the fact he recently defended the interim heavyweight title.
'Bones' had been set to defend the heavyweight belt against Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 last year, but he suffered a pectoral injury that ruled him out of the fight just weeks prior. In his absence, Aspinall stepped in to face Sergei Pavlovich, finishing the Russian inside the first round to win the interim title.
Aspinall has since been calling for a unification bout against Jones, but was recently made to defend his interim belt against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304. Aspinall once again won the fight in the first round, staking his claim even further.
Despite a large majority of the fan base and MMA media believing Aspinall should be next, Jon Jones has continually played down any chance of the fight happening. The 37-year-old is instead focused on facing Miocic later this year, and has even alluded to his retirement following the fight.
Recently, Jones doubled down on his stance whilst replying to a fan on X. The fan noted that Tom Aspinall has defended the interim belt and is deserving of a shot, to which the heavyweight champ responded:
"You must be a new fan. I've been here for every generation of fighters ever since Matt Hughes and Ortiz were around."
Check out Jon Jones' tweet here:
Randy Couture weighs in on Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou not facing-off in the UFC
Randy Couture recently offered his take on the UFC not booking Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou, believing it was the promotion's own ego that stopped the fight from happening.
Earlier this month, Dana White suggested it was down to Ngannou that the bout against Jones never happened, stating that they had done everything in their power to try and secure the fight.
'The Predator' has since disagreed, however, doubling down on his stance that whilst he wanted to face 'Bones', he didn't want to be locked in to a new long-term contract with the UFC.
In a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Couture had his say on the situation, revealing it reminded him of a similar situation he faced during his career. He said:
"I know the UFC’s got too big an ego to let that happen. That’s why the Fedor [Emelianenko] fight never happened [for me]. Because M-1 wanted to do a co-promotion, and the UFC’s never going to let that happen." [H/t: MMA Fighting]