Tom Aspinall admitted that the fear of facing Jon Jones is driving him to make the fight.
The UFC Heavyweight Interim Champion has been chasing a title shot for some time. Jones became the UFC Heavyweight Champion after beating Ciryl Gane last year at UFC 285. Bones came back from three years out of the octagon to get the victory.
While that may have been the case, he became injured, ruling him out of his title defence at UFC 295 against Stipe Miocic. Jones underwent surgery to address his pectoral muscle injury, which has kept him out since then. Further surgery on his elbow followed.
Tom Aspinall called on the UFC to strip Jones, which Dana White dismissed. The Brit wanted to face Miocic for the belt, and the winner would face Jones. That has left Tom Aspinall waiting on the sidelines until Jones faces Miocic. Yet, the Brit revealed that his fear of facing one of the best UFC fighters ever keeps him motivated.
Tom Aspinall vs Jon Jones
“Do I fear him? Absolutely. I fear all of my opponents. Like, these guys are the best in the world, the absolute best in the world. Absolutely I fear him, but that fuels me. I want to prove that I’m the best in the world.
“I’m obviously confident that I could beat Jon Jones because I want to fight him. I’m not making it a secret that I want to fight him, but I’ve done everything that I can until this point. … I want to fight Jon Jones, but he doesn’t, so there’s not a lot I can do about that,” Aspinall said
But when the two fighters came face to face recently, there was a perception that Jones was the one ducking. They saw each other at the Arnold’s Sports Festival UK in Birmingham, England. As they interacted, Tom Aspinall placed his hand on Jones’ shoulder.
The heavyweight champion responded by removing his hand, as Aspinall wanted a face-off picture. Jones rejected that request, giving him the chance to have a side-by-side picture instead. Jones did not rule out fighting Aspinall, but there were suggestions that Jones did not look comfortable. Aspinall had to deny claims that he was disrespecting Jones.
Tom Aspinall Reacts
“I think he thought I was putting my hand on his shoulder being disrespectful. But I wasn’t there to be disrespectful. I was doing it in a friendly way, I’m not trying to cause any beef. I’m trying to fight the guy and take his belt. I have no beef with the guy and just wanted to meet him,” Apsinall said
“He’s alright, mate. First time I met him. He’s nowhere as big as I thought. I thought he’s a lot taller, but I guess when you fight at light-heavyweight your whole career, and you’re 6’4″, you look really tall. But I’m a full-grown heavyweight, aren’t I? He’s nowhere as big as me, but size doesn’t matter really. We’re both massive guys, but I’ll take that one. I think I beat him definitely,” Aspinall revealed