Jon Jones’ striking coach believes Tom Aspinall would face problems against his fighter.
Many fight fans are wondering if the UFC will inevitable book a title unification bout between Jones and Aspinall. “Bones” picked Stipe Miocic apart in their UFC 309 heavyweight title fight. Aspinall, who holds interim gold, was in attendance for the fight. There was no staredown inside the Octagon or even an acknowledgment from Jones.
While some believe that Aspinall is the one to catch “Bones,” Brandon Gibson believes the surging heavyweight would have some issues dealing with the future UFC Hall of Famer.
🗣️"I always told Jon [Jones], you don't owe anybody anything." @SixGunGibson doesn't feel that @JonnyBones is ducking @AspinallMMA. 💪
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) December 3, 2024
MMA Today w/@DinThomas + @AlanJouban pic.twitter.com/XTWntoO93o
Jon Jones Would Be ‘Tough Matchup’ for Tom Aspinall
Speaking to Din Thomas and Alan Jouban on SiriusXM’s “MMA Today,” coach Brandon Gibson shared his belief that Tom Aspinall’s lack of Octagon time could be his downfall against Jon Jones
“I think the fans want that from a lineal standpoint,” Gibson said. “You want to see the belt get passed, not just a belt get vacated. But I always tell Jon like, ‘Dude, you don’t owe anybody anything.’ We owed Stipe Miocic and the UFC that night on Nov. 16. That’s what we owed. We’ll see if negotiations can get done right, but Jon’s not ducking anybody.
“I actually think Jon is a tough matchup for Tom Aspinall. Obviously, we haven’t seen Tom with an average fight time of two and a half minutes – we haven’t see much out of Tom, but that’s also a positive on our part. Jon is great at taking champion-level caliber fighters into deep waters. Jon is great in that fourth round and that fifth round. It’s not a matchup that scares us at all. It’s a matter of what’s best for Jon and his family.”
It appears Jones wants to continue fighting, but whether or not he’ll mix it up with Aspinall remains to be seen. “Bones” has expressed interest in a clash with UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, but Dana White has shut down that idea.
Aspinall believes Jones hasn’t displayed much interest in fighting him in order to gain leverage in contract negotiations. He went as far as to call Jones’ business acumen “high level.”