Belal Muhammad claims Tom Aspinall can beat Jon Jones
Belal Muhammad is seemingly of the view that UK MMA stalwart Tom Aspinall can defeat Jon Jones. Earlier tonight, Aspinall secured the biggest victory of his MMA career thus far, defeating top-tier UFC heavyweight contender and former Bellator heavyweight champion Alexander Volkov.
Tom Aspinall stopped 'Drago' via first-round submission in their heavyweight bout that headlined the UFC London fight card at the O2 Arena in London, England.
#UFCLondonTom Aspinall has ARRIVED 💪 #UFCLondon https://t.co/GUVWxBCpW5
Prior to Aspinall’s spectacular win over Volkov, Belal Muhammad had posted a rather intriguing tweet. The UFC welterweight suggested that if Aspinall were to beat Volkov early, he should be awarded the opportunity to fight Jon Jones. Muhammad’s tweet read as follows:
“If aspinal wins early give him Jon Jones”
If aspinal wins early give him Jon Jones 🤔
Well, Aspinall did indeed win early, dominating and finishing his veteran opponent in the very first round via submission. Following this, Muhammad cited his aforementioned tweet and posted yet another tweet wherein he claimed that Aspinall would beat Jones. Muhammad tweeted:
“He beats Jon”
He beats Jon twitter.com/bullyb170/stat…
Jones holds a professional MMA record of 26-1-1. His only loss came via disqualification as he utilized illegal downward elbows in a bout against Matt Hamill. Many consider ‘Bones’ to be virtually undefeated in the MMA realm. Meanwhile, Aspinall’s record stands at 12-2, with one loss coming via disqualification and another via submission.
Tom Aspinall on Jon Jones’ long-awaited heavyweight debut
In an interview with Helen Yee Sports earlier this month, Tom Aspinall addressed former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones’ highly-anticipated heavyweight debut. ‘Bones’ last fought in February 2020. He vacated his UFC 205 lbs title in August 2020 and has been bulking up to move up to the 265-pound division.
Fast-forward to 2022, and Jon Jones is yet to make his heavyweight debut. Furthermore, it’s been speculated that Jones could finally return this year and compete in his very first heavyweight bout, taking on Stipe Miocic. Regardless, nothing has been officially announced as of yet.
Tom Aspinall believes that Jones’ heavyweight debut has probably been delayed due to issues regarding his pay or other contract negotiation terms. Nevertheless, he jibbed at ‘Bones’ for constantly talking about his heavyweight plans on Twitter despite the fact that the MMA legend is yet to make his debut in the division. Aspinall said:
“I would love to see Jon Jones at heavyweight. I would be so interested to see (it), especially because in his last couple of fights, he's not looked amazing. So, I would like to see how he looks with a little bit of extra weight on his frame... I'd be very interested as a heavyweight myself.”