Amid accusations of continually ducking a fight with Tom Aspinall, UFC star Jon Jones has now come under fire for manhandling viral sensation Hasbulla Magomedov.
Jones, who is currently in Thailand on a trip to Asia, has been linked with a return to the Octagon since the beginning of this year. However, failing to make good on his return, the Rochester native has been tied to a showdown with interim gold holder, Tom Aspinall.
Sidelined since November, Jones most recently sent the veteran Stipe Miocic into retirement at Madison Square Garden with a knockout win at the heavyweight limit.
However, in the time since, Jones has remained coy about his future as a fighter. Accused of intentionally “ducking” a title unification showdown with Aspinall, Jones has been quiet on that front, too.
Beyond a brief reference to those accusations, Jones, whom Dana White has publicly said is pound-for-pound the best heavyweight (although ranked #2), claimed he was simply living his best life while in Asia.
“I’ve got people in the chat calling me a duck,” Jones said. “Meanwhile, I’m living my absolute best life. I don’t know if it’s considered ducking when you’re living good. I don’t think it works like that.”
Currently on the Thailand leg of his tour this week, Jones had an encounter with the viral internet sensation popularly known as ‘mini Khabib’ among UFC fans. Jones posted a video on his Insta account, where he can be seen hoisting the 22-year-old above his head and playing with him like he was a baby.
But Hasbulla is not an infant. He happens to be a grown adult who is only 3′ 4″ tall, due to a growth hormone deficiency.
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This did not go down well with many fans, who trolled the heavyweight champ for disrespecting a grown man. In the comments of Jones’ post on social media, a user ripped into him, “A grown man carrying another grown man.”
Another pointed to the fact that despite Hasbulla’s stature, he is actually an adult man. “He ain’t [a] kid y’all. He keeps gettin played and tossed like one gets me WEAKKKKK EVERYTIME.”
A third then claimed that while the video he posted was “fun”, he should make his return to fight Aspinall. “Ok Jon that’s fun, when are you fighting Tom (Aspinall)?”
And it’s not just fans who are growing tired of waiting for Jones’ return. It’s also his would-be foe, Aspinall.
Aspinall urges Jon Jones to fight or vacate
Claiming Jones is most definitely “scared” to share the Octagon with him, Aspinall alleges this is not the first time he’s felt this way either.
According to the British fighter, Jon Jones also avoided a super fight with promotional star Francis Ngannou during their respective Octagon tenures.
“Yes, absolutely (he’s scared),” Aspinall said on IMPAULSIVE. “The thing with Jon: Jon is conning the public, man. I’m not disputing that he’s an amazing fighter. I think the fact that he didn’t want to fight Ngannou for three years. And now he doesn’t want to fight me over a year, and just the way he manipulates the media and the public is super smart.”
And while it’s difficult to claim Jones is “scared” to a degree. He needs to either fight or give up his title for definite.
