UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones appears to be letting fan comments get to him after claims he is avoiding his top contender.
The legendary two-division champion is set to face Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 next Saturday in Madison Square Garden. And it appears that after initially claiming he would retire in the octagon following a final legend-slaying performance, he is open to one more fight.
However, he seems to have zero interest in that one last bout being against Tom Aspinall, who holds the interim title in his division. Instead, he would rather face a big name that would help his legacy down the line.
Jon Jones has no interest in fighting Tom Aspinall after UFC 309
Despite seeming keen on one more fight after his initially-planned retirement in New York, it appears that Jon Jones has absolutely no plans to face Aspinall and unify the heavyweight division. In a number of interviews, he has completely rubbished the idea, branding the Brit as an after-thought.
Asked by reporter Scott Fantana what the Manchester native could do in order to earn himself a shot at the greatest of all time, Jones replied: “Really nothing. I find him annoying and I’ve been here for so long, he just got to the UFC not too long ago.
“If he wanted to fight me he could have been here, it’s like ‘where have you been all this time?’ At the end of the day he has no real standout legacy, I think the only guy he’s beat is Andrei Arlovski and Andrei was very old at the time.
“So it’s just like, he really has nothing that entices me. He reminds me of a bunch of other up-and-comers that I fought where it does nothing for my legacy, really nothing. Maybe if he goes on and gets close to my win record maybe I’ll be enticed to come back and see.
“But I highly doubt he’ll do that. Alex Pereira though, that’s somebody that interests me. He had great sagas with Israel Adesanya and he’s beat Jamahal Hill, this guy is a champion killer like myself. That type of stuff entices me.”
Jon Jones hits back at fans after being branded a ‘duck’
The comments that Jones has been making across media outlets this past week have been riling up fans, who have labelled him a ‘duck’. Aspinall has already defended his interim belt once against Curtis Blaydes, and plans to show up cageside for Jones vs Miocic.
And during a live stream while working out, commenters flooded his chat with comments calling him out for avoiding the Brit. “I see quite a few people in here calling me a duck,” he noted while looking at what was being written.
“I’m a duck, call me a duck, call me a chicken, call me a GOAT, call me a dog. I’m not in high school any more guys, I’m a grown man out here chasing his dreams, it’s funny that we live in a world where being called a duck should affect me, guys, come on.”
Tom Aspinall brands Jon Jones a ‘strange guy’ after odd series of interviews
While all of this has been happening, it appears that Tom Aspinall has been focusing on his own plans. He has already defended the heavyweight title once against Curtis Blaydes, and appears baffled by what Jones has been saying.
“I think he’s a strange and unpredictable guy, and I don’t think anybody really knows [what he wants],” stated the British fan favorite during a recent interview with VechtersBazen.
“Even though I want to fight the guy, I’ve never once disrespected Jon Jones and what’s he done in his career – maybe I did accuse him of being on PEDs, which is a fact, that’s the truth… It’s hard to not respect that [legacy] apart from the PEDs.
“I think if you can get that name on your resume as a scalp, that goes a long way… But all I ask is like, Dana White saying that he’s the GOAT and he’s pound-for-pound number one, if I fight Jon Jones and beat him, he still has to be pound-for-pound – you can’t start saying he’s old then.
“You can’t say he’s passed it or he’s over blah blah blah; you can’t do that, if he’s the pound-for-pound GOAT or whatever, keep that same energy when I beat him… That’s what I ask.”