Jon Jones vents about ‘Random’ fight with Tom Aspinall: ‘I’m here for the legacy’

Jon Jones hasn’t changed his mind one bit about the fight against Tom Aspinall.

The two-division UFC champion appears to be in the final stretch of arguably the most coveted career in MMA history as he may retire next week at Madison Square Garden to face another notable name, the former heavyweight -Champion Stipe Miocic.

The biggest consensus in their divisions competing in the Big Apple, Jones vs. Miocic, is not without backlash. Interim champion Tom Aspinall has definitely made a case for fighting Jones next, having defeated five opponents since Miocic in March 2021, two of which were title fights.

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Despite Aspinall’s ever-growing resume and calls for a title unification fight, “Bones” won’t back down, asserting that he may be able to get away without another fight after Miocic.

“Most likely not,” Jones said Kevin Iolewhen asked if he would fight Tom Aspinall after UFC 309. “I feel like Tom Aspinall… I don’t want to say nobody, but he just hasn’t proven anything. He didn’t do anything.”

“He won his belt against Sergei. “Sergei just got slaughtered by someone else,” Jones referred to Aspinall’s former opponent Sergei Pavlovich, who was mauled by Alexander Volkov in June. “I’m not here to bet on someone else making a name out of me. I’m here to fight the guys that in ten years we would look back and say, ‘Jon Jones fought that guy and…’ That guy and that legend and that champion and that champion…'”

By any measure, 31-year-old Aspinall still has some way to go to achieve GOAT status, with only one former champion on his list of names (Andrei Arlovski), but the Brit is off to a good start and has a string of tops -Beaten competitors en route to first place in the division.

Will Jon Jones fight again after UFC 309? That’s probably the question Aspinall, along with everyone else, has been asking himself as the Miocic fight approaches.

While Jones is clearly not a fan of fighting what he believes is the new kid on the block in Aspinall, the UFC veteran sees a world where he stays in the Octagon for one more fight.

“If there was a fight against a guy who is still on our UFC roster, not only would it be financially rewarding, but it would be rewarding. It would be Alex Pereira,” Jones said of the current UFC light heavyweight champion who has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the promotion. “I think this fight would help my legacy far more than a young man who’s cool today and might be gone tomorrow…”

“I’ve just been here too long to get excited about someone who’s hot today. I am here to achieve a legacy. I’ve been gaming for far too long to just jump into a random fight.”

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