Jon Jones has once again denied a reporter an interview for a petty reason! Jones has been refusing to fight interim heavyweight champion Tom Apsinall if he retains his title after UFC 309, and has been brutally scrutinized for it. And it seems the Brit is living rent-free in his head as he’s refused talkSport scribe Adam Catterall a minute of his time due to the latter’s association with the interim champion.
Seconds after walking into the room, ‘Bones’ realized Catterall’s close ties to Aspinall and decided that he would not be doing this interview because it would be an ‘Aspinall fest’. Caterall co-hosts a show with Aspinall for TNT and has been very critical about the American dodging the Brit.
In response, Caterall has claimed that Jones doesn’t believe in his heart and soul that the interim champion would get the better of him.
“The reason that Jon does not want to fight Tom Aspinall and I have no problem saying this to you, and I have no problem saying this to Jon’s face, it’s that he doesn’t fully believe he can beat him.”
The podcast host believes that all ‘Bones‘ will do now is try to save his legacy and keep his unbeaten record intact till he retires. Caterall further criticized Bones’ question about what Aspinall had done to deserve a fight with him and said, the Brit had done more than enough.
“He’s beaten 5 of the top 10 guys. He’s the interim champion. He’s won 8 fights in the UFC. He’s finished every single one of them and he’s done 7 of them in the first round. It’s ridiculous. Compare that to when Jon became the champion back in 2011, he blows Jon’s numbers out of the water.”
Despite continuing to make a case for himself, it seems that even UFC President Dana White is finally putting his foot down,
White wants to see Jones vs. Aspinall
Jones might have had a hell of a career but his dodging tactics are all people are going to talk about from this point on. He’s guaranteed that himself. During the UFC 309 pre-fight press conference, a reporter asked the UFC president if the winner of the heavyweight title fight should take the Brit on next.
White, who has been rather vocally supportive of Jones and has hyped up the heavyweight champion for the better part of a year now made it clear that the undisputed champion must face the interim champion.
“The winner should absolutely fight Tom.”
Upon hearing his, the crowd started chanting Aspinall’s name before Jones asked them to ‘knock it off‘.
