Jon Jones is of the opinion that Tom Aspinall should sit back and wait his turn.
Aspinall, the UFC’s interim heavyweight champion, has been vocal in his belief that it should be him — and not Stipe Miocic — who should be the next man up for Jones once he returns to action after sustaining a pectoral injury last November. General UFC policy has long dictated that an interim champion is considered to be the top contender once a champion is again eligible to defend his or her championship.
However, UFC brass have indicated that former champ Miocic — who hasn’t competed since March 2021 — will be Jones’ opponent upon his return from injury. This hasn’t gone down so well with Aspinall, and led to a social media exchange between the two — the highlights of which you can read below:
“I recognize only four of these names on your resume,” Jones said, addressing Aspinall on Instagram in a since-deleted message. “Launching TikTok attacks while I’m over here on the injury list is just whack. You get no points for that where I’m from.”
“Only four recognisable opponents, and already the king of England, must be nice,” Jones wrote on Twitter. “There will be legendary tales told about you and your infamous call outs,” later adding that “I was a champion when I was 23 years old, you can’t show up at age 30 pretending like you’ve been chasing me your whole life. I have no clue who 90% of his résumé is, meanwhile, I’ve been highlighting UFC events my entire career.”
Aspinall responded: “Jon you’re letting your ego run wild here mate. I’m not downplaying your resume, it’s incredible. Far superior to mine. You are known as the best fighter ever, and that’s exactly why I want to beat you. Surely you can understand that?”
“It’s a wild world we live in!” Jones responded. “People can be so quick to try to replace you, throw you away, discredit your work. That’s the best thing about them stats or just being able to see the fruits of your labor. Be an absolute savage at what you do, at whatever capacity that may be. Let the work speak for itself, be undeniable in this world ladies and gentlemen. Be absolutely undeniable.”
“Tom, you talking about someone’s ego running wild is one of the most hypocritical things ever., You literally haven’t kept my balls out of your mouth since you won that imaginary championship,” Jones wrote back. “Both you and [Sergei Pavlovich] have zero championships between your name. It’s funny that you actually walk around feeling like the world champion. Especially when the actual champion is undefeated, and had a flawless last performance. Literally didn’t get hit my last fight.”
Separately, Jones also wrote of how the business aspect of his fight with Miocic is too hard to turn down, particularly as it related to both of their legacies.
“What I am saying is, coming back from two different surgeries, and defeating Stipe is my primary goal, and a huge feat if you ask me. We both have already agreed to massive contracts, a win for either one of us would be absolutely massive for either of our careers.
“Despite how good Tom may seem right now, a win over him really does nothing for my legacy. That’s just the truth. That’s all I’m saying, I understand a lot of you guys don’t fully understand what’s happening behind the scenes. You don’t make it as far as myself and Stipe not realising the business side of this.”
