Interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall seems intent on taking on the champ Jon Jones.
The fighter has had an all-out verbal diss against Jones since White heaped praises on the heavyweight champ. Aspinall took it a step further by naming Jones in an interview after being asked who he thought the champion of fight dodging was. “Fight dodging?” Aspinall said. That would have to be Jon Jones, wouldn’t it? We know he’s trying to fight ‘Old Man Stipe.’ Well, he’s going to fight Stipe. He’s the fight dodger around here.”
Jones took this comment to heart and left a vulgar comment on Aspinall’s Instagram video.
“This dude literally has my large black c*ck in his mouth every week,” Jones wrote. “I’m flattered. I absolutely guarantee he will not win more world championships than me. That’s truly all that matters at the end of the day.
“There’s been many champions, no one like me. I sleep good at night.”
The comment has since been taken down, but it seems this altercation has sparked a fire in Jones. Analysts like Daniel Cormier believe Aspinall’s intention is to pick at Jones and provoke a reaction from him–which he has.
On his YouTube video, Cormier reacted to Jones’s comment on Aspinall’s post.
“Business is picking up now, finally,” Cormier said on Jones and Aspinall. “It’s the fight, or at least it feels like the fight. While I thought [Tom Aspinall] fumbled the post-fight interview with me in Manchester, he seems to be frustrated.
“ Honestly, frustration might be good right now. Because in frustration, you start to really show your true feelings on the situation. [Aspinall] was very respectful in that interview…but what does respectful get you? It doesn’t really get you all that you want. Now, respect’s out the window with this dude, and he’s just telling it how it is…
“Here’s one thing about Jon Jones, and this can be from me because I’m a person who lived it with him,” Cormier continued. “The thing about Jon Jones is he doesn’t like disrespect. He can’t ignore it when you take shots at him. and that’s why it was very easy to get under his skin. We as fighters don’t like being disrespected, especially one who has had as much success as Jon Jones has had.
“At the end of the day, Jon Jones is a champion and he’s a competitor. Things are picking up at heavyweight, I think we’re closer to Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall today than we’ve ever been…in beef, disrespect is always what gets you closer to fighting him. Tom Aspinall is being disrespectful now, and I think that’s going to work to his advantage in terms of getting this fight.”
Although it is unknown when Jones will battle Miocic, the fight will be rescheduled–the two were previously booked to fight at UFC 295. All signs indicate that the fighters will finally get their meet-up in November.
Since Jones’ win over Gane, Aspinall has won an interim heavyweight title and successfully defended it. He defeated Sergei Pavlovich to win the vacant belt at UFC 295 and then defeated Curtis Blaydes via a 60-second knockout at UFC 304 this past July.
