"UFC may have to be forced" - Daniel Cormier sees Tom Aspinall derailing plans for Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic showdown
Daniel Cormier recently shared his thoughts on a potential showdown between Tom Aspinall and Jon Jones. The former two-division UFC champion pondered upon the possibility of Aspinall running through his next fight easily and how that could pressure the promotion into booking him for a title fight against Jones.
Aspinall is set to face Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 later this month in Manchester, England. While the interim heavyweight champion has been calling for a title unification fight against Jones for a while now, the undisputed champion is seemingly set to face Stipe Miocic later this year.
In a recent YouTube video, Cormier explained how Aspinall could potentially force the UFC's hand regarding a title fight against Jones. Expecting public pressure to mount if Aspinall secures a statement victory over Blaydes, Cormier stated:
"Could you image if Tom Aspinall just washes out Curtis Blaydes? Then the firestorm that would start to gather for him to fight Jones... For there to truly be an uprising, it would have to be Aspinall destroying Blaydes. Only because of this, you've seen Curtis Blaydes lose before... But if Aspinall goes through Blaydes in the way that he did Sergei... People would lose their minds, almost insisting that him and Jones fight."
Cormier continued:
"If Tom Aspinall can get through this fight, and he's clean, and he looks dominant, there may be such a fan uprising that the UFC may have to be forced to make Jones vs. Aspinall."
Catch Daniel Cormier's comments below (10:11):
When Tom Aspinall accused Jon Jones of "playing games" to avoid potential clash
Last month, Tom Aspinall expressed his frustration at not being able to fight Jon Jones in an undisputed heavyweight title fight. The Englishman lashed out at 'Bones' via social media and accused him of "playing games" by choosing to fight Stipe Miocic next.
In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Aspinall revealed that he spoke to Jones privately and admitted that there wasn't much he could do. Slamming the reigning UFC heavyweight champion, Aspinall said:
"Well, I've made it pretty clear that I want to fight Jones. I'm not going to go out my - I'm not going to start acting like someone that I'm not. Do you know what I mean? I spoke to Jon Jones online, I spoke to Jon Jones privately, I spoke to Jon Jones personally, publicly. There's not a lot more that I can do. Jon Jones is playing games. He doesn't want the fight."