Alexander Gustaffson stuffed about 9 out of 11 takedown attempts by Jon Jones when they first fought at UFC 165 in Canada. As a matter of fact, the Swede had Jones on the ropes till a miraculous spinning elbow connected to his face in the fourth round and Jones sort of took over. Then they fought again at UFC 232 and Jones just ragdolled him. When asked how Jones revealed he didn’t train at all for the first one. And Joe Rogan knows why.
For better context, the then light heavyweight champion managed to win the first Gustaffson fight by judges’ decision, one that is often disputed but win, he did! Not that there’s a lack of words in the English dictionary but that is insane!
He once told Daniel Cormier that he had defeated him after a weekend of a cocaine bender. Daniel Cormier is widely regarded as one of the greatest UFC light heavyweights of all time!
This is why Rogan believes Jones was bored when he fought the Swede. He only went to a proper camp and trained when he realized Gustaffson could end his title reign. It’s only fear that works for him.
“It’s mostly he was playing with his food, it’s mostly Jon was bored. He was so dominant that he would not train…When he’s really threatened, then you see how good he really is.”
Rogan then revealed that in the rematch with Gustafsson, ‘Bones‘ trained extremely hard because he had a point to prove. Truth be told, Jones is a unique talent; to the point where if he had the work ethic of some of the other GOATS, say like, GSP, he could have won and defended both light heavyweight and heavyweight titles simultaneously.
But that was almost a decade ago. Can he do the same to Tom Aspinall? Will he take the risk and just walk out to the Brit? Or will he be threatened enough to train?
Tom and Jones’ Cat & Mouse game
Aspinall is stronger than Jones. But that shouldn’t really be a problem since Jones never could KO anyone. Aspinall can wrestle, which Jones is one of the best at. He’s made a whole career out of it.
But can he stand up and trade with the Brit? Now, that’s the million-dollar question because from he 2 minutes he gives us every fight, its quite visible that he is fast and not just for a heavyweight, he could fight at middleweight and still be faster than some of the folks down there. Aspinall is just a freak of an athlete.
He moves, he creates different angles and he strikes with precision, and more importantly, he wants Jon Jones’ undisputed title. Currently, the interim heavyweight champion, Aspinall has already defended his title once more than Jones has.
And the Brit has angling to fight the Rochester native since he first returned. Now, Jones wants to take on Stipe Miocic and has been avoiding Aspinall at all costs.
So is the greatest of all time ducking? Now? After all these years? Dana White doesn’t think so. He believes Jones is competitive enough to be interested in Aspinall if he keeps his title after UFC 309.
But it’s Dana White! Of course, he’s going to say that!
