If Jon Jones is to fight Tom Aspinall, he wants it reflected in his bank account.
UFC heavyweight champion Jones successfully defended his crown for the first time this past weekend in Madison Square Garden, scoring a third-round TKO finish of the former champion Stipe Miocic in a long delayed bout that served as the featured attraction to the organisation’s return to the Big Apple.
Watching from cageside was the interim champion Tom Aspinall; a man who has been vocally campaigning for the shot at Jones’ title that many would expect his interim title deserves. Jones, though, has been so far unwilling to entertain a fight with Aspinall, saying in a candid press conference in New York last Wednesday that he doesn’t see a fight with the Englishman as enhancing his legacy — and even that he finds Aspinall “annoying.”
But despite his stated preference of fighting light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira next, Jones told the media post-fight in Madison Square Garden late on Saturday night that if the Aspinall bout is to become a reality, he will need what would likely be a career-high payday.
“He’s annoying to me,” Jones said of Aspinall, as noted by MMA Fighting. “He’s annoying to me and that’s my own personal—he annoys me. I get it you guys find it entertaining, but I find him annoying. I just don’t like him and at the end of the day, if I give him the opportunity to fight me, I want to be so compensated-I want to say it, I want that ‘f*ck you’ money, honestly. That’s just what it is.
“I’m not really worried about the Tom fight,” Jones added later. “I’m really worried about the Pereira fight. That’s what I want to do. I think if the UFC wants to have me back, then I think that’s the fight they’ll make. I’ve been really clear about my intentions. That’s what I want.
“I just feel like anybody would understand at this point. Like, I’ll retire the heavyweight belt if I have to. Give the guy what he wants at the end of the day. I’m not talking about Dana directly. I want to take what I find to be superfights. I don’t want to fight dangerous up-and-comers anymore. I want to fight dangerous established champions.
“So Tom can have the heavyweight championship, I don’t really care about it. My value doesn’t lie in belts anymore. I’ve created something bigger. I want Pereira.”
