UFC veteran warns Tom Aspinall might suffer a Ronda Rousey-esque decline facing Jon Jones: "There’s nothing you can do about it"
Interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is what most MMA pundits would call "the next big thing" - and rightfully so. The heavy-handed Englishman's exciting finishes in the octagon have launched him to superstardom in a relatively short period.
His 100% finish rate gives Aspinall an air of invincibility akin to that of MMA icon Ronda Rousey's domination of the UFC women's bantamweight division a few years back. While this may seem like a good thing for the interim heavyweight king, to MMA legend Chael Sonnen, it might be a terrible omen.
In a recent video uploaded to his YouTube channel, 'The Bad Guy' details why he thinks Aspinall's Ronda Rousey-esque domination might do him a disservice, especially if he faces the undisputed UFC heavyweight champ, Jon Jones.
Sonnen said:
"Tom Aspinall, with the exception of Andrei Arlovksi, has never been out of the first round. I'm not sure that you understand that. That is not helpful. That is not a good thing...When you find yourself in a fight harder than you're used to, it's problem...It's the number one reason that Ronda [Rousey] lost to Holly Holm... It was because the six other girls that Ronda had been there with checked out collectively in a shorter time that Holly had made it...It's a problem for everyone. There's nothing you can do about it."
Check out Chael Sonnen's analysis of Jon Jones below:
Another UFC veteran reveals Tom Aspinall's best weapon against Jon Jones
While Chael Sonnen isn't giving Tom Aspinall any chances to beat Jon Jones, another UFC veteran, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir, sees things differently.
In an interview with talkSPORT MMA, Mir revealed a weakness in Jones he saw when he sparred with him in the past, saying:
"Jon's chink in his armor from when I sparred with him is he doesn't do well with speed. If you're fast it gives him a hard time. He uses his length to overcome that and then if you come in fast and maybe miss, then he grabs you and wears you down with his wrestling ability."
Mir added:
"Again movement, speed. So Tom kind of represents that, he's a very, explosive fast handed heavyweight with good movement. So there is a good chance he could be a very dangerous fight for Jon because some of his attributes are weaknesses of Jon."
Check out Frank Mir's full interview below: