The title picture at heavyweight has received some clarity after the UFC announced that interim champion Tom Aspinall will take on Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 set to take place in Manchester later this year. This means that the Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic fight is scheduled to go ahead as promised by Dana White. However, while it might seem that Jones still has a few more fights left in him, Curtis Blaydes believes otherwise.
Blaydes recently sat down for an interview with ‘MMA Junkie’ hosted by Mike Bohn. During the interview, Bohn asked Blaydes if he believes Jon Jones will face the winner of his fight against Aspinall if he beats Stipe. To this, ‘Razor’ said,
“If I win or Aspinall wins, I don’t think Jon is going to fight anyone outside of Stipe. After Stipe, he walks away into the sunset. I think he likes to toss out different scenarios, ‘what If I fought Alex Pereira? What if I fought Tom Aspinall?’. He wants people to talk about him which I get. The more you get talked about, the better your following grows. Either you believe he is the GAOT already or you don’t. It’s like MJ vs Lebron.”
Blaydes explained the situation further, claiming that for Jones, fights are more about legacy now. Hence, defeating Blaydes or Aspinall will not help his legacy in any way, but besting Stipe Miocic will cement his position as the greatest of all time. Therefore, Blaydes believes that if Jones secures a win over Stipe Miocic, it will be the last time we see him inside the UFC octagon.
A closer look at Curtis Blaydes’ take on Jon Jones’ future in the UFC
Despite having an interim champion, Dana White has been adamant in what is next for Jon Jones. White has waited patiently as Jones recovered from his injury before booking him against Stipe Miocic.
At this point, it appears as though Jones has fully recovered as he is back in training. Yet, while getting a win over the heavyweight ‘GOAT’ will be another feather in the cap for Jones, he is still a long way away from being fight-ready.
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Jones will be 37 in a few months and might not have anything left to prove in the sport once he takes on Miocic. Hence, there is a good chance that he will walk away from the sport as Blaydes predicted. However, in the off chance of Jones holding out on his retirement, it will be hard to imagine him sticking around in the UFC for more than a fight or two.
