The UFC may be pushing Jon Jones as its pound-for-pound #1 fighter, but he has been left out by Tom Aspinall in his list of the best fighters in the promotion.
During a fan QnA session, the interim heavyweight champion was asked to name his favorite fighters. And without hesitation, Aspinall named the light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and featherweight champion Ilia Topuria among others.
“I think Alex Pereira is one of my favorites to watch coz he’s so exciting…..Big Ilia topuria fan, big Alex Volkanovski fan…..Of course Islam Makhachev as well,” said Aspinall.
Jones didn’t make the list, even though Aspinall had a front-seat view of his TKO win over Stipe Miocic at Madison Square Garden over the weekend.
Aspinall has more than enough professional reasons to not list Jones. The #2 ranked P4P fighter has only fought twice in four years. It also doesn’t help that Aspinall wants a title unification fight with Jones, and the American has been evading it.
Aspinall considers himself as a true MMA fan. He tries his best to catch as many live MMA events and fights as he can. It also helps him study his opponents.
It would very well be one of the reasons why his opponents rarely last beyond the first round. But the unification bout against Jones may not be that one-sided. If Jones takes the fight, that is.
Aspinall’s title unification dreams
Aspinall last fought in July this year against Curtis Blaydes in what was his first defense of the interim title. Then again, the interim title doesn’t need defending, right? It is nothing but a #1 title contender tag. The interim champion’s next fight should ideally be against the undisputed champion.
If the undisputed champion fights someone else, then the interim belt ceases to hold any meaning. Which is why the Brit has been chasing Jones ever since he returned from injury.
And now that the unification fight is so close that he can almost smell it, Jones has been throwing in a lot of terms and conditions. Aspinall remains confident of doing well against Jones in the matchup. But nobody seems to know when it would take place.
“We’re in negotiations right now is the honest answer. So we don’t know when the fight is going to be, but I’ll be ready to go whenever.”
However, the Brit had already begun training since the UFC 309. In fact, as the backup fighter for Jones and Miocic, he was already in camp, ready to pounce at any opportunity he might get.
It will be interesting to see if the UFC follows through with this fight, paying heed to the huge public outcry for it.
