Tom Aspinall shares eye-opening reason for placing Jon Jones second on his GOAT list
Tom Aspinall recently came clean about the position of Jon Jones on his GOAT list. Aspinall ignored his back and forth with Jones to provide him with a respectable position, but it wasn't the apex one.
Jones neglected Aspinall's call-outs for a heavyweight title unification fight right from the beginning of this year. 'Bones' also justified Alex Pereira as a worthier rival when compared to Aspinall due to 'Poatan's' incredibly decorated UFC resume with victories over multiple former UFC champions.
Jones bagged a comfortable victory over Stipe Miocic at UFC 309. Per the UFC's tradition, he should fight Aspinall next with the undisputed heavyweight gold on the line. But the Rochester native still has his eyes locked on 'Poatan'.
Aspinall didn't let his back-and-forth with Jones affect his GOAT list. The current interim heavyweight champ awarded the no. 2 spot on his list to the undisputed heavyweight champ, only to be bested by the noted Georges St-Pierre. A tweet from @Home_of_Fight also showcased Aspinall mentioning why he chose 'Rush' as his MMA GOAT. The UK native said:
"GSP [Georges St-Pierre]... He's never failed [a test] for PEDs"
Jon Jones willing to give up UFC gold to fight Alex Pereira over Tom Aspinall
The Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic encounter can be justified since Jones had called for the fight before Tom Aspinall bagged the interim title heavyweight gold against Serghei Pavlovich.
A section of the MMA community feels that Aspinall should be the next in line for a shot at the undisputed heavyweight gold. But Jones hasn't given up on his wish to lock horns with Alex Pereira next. In the post-UFC 309 press conference, Jones also mentioned that he wouldn't mind vacating the UFC title for an encounter against Pereira. He said:
"I don't wanna fight dangerous up comers anymore. I want to fight dangerous established champions. Tom [Aspinall] can have the heavyweight championship. I don't really care about it. My value doesn't lie in belts anymore. I've created something much bigger. I want [Alex] Pereira."
Check out Jon Jones' comments below (0:47)