Jon Jones is in deep waters and Tom Aspinall might get to benefit from it. In a recent turn of events, Heavyweight champion Jon Jones allegedly assaulted an anti-doping testing officer in his hometown, Albuquerque. Although the charge leaves room for speculation, Jones will have to face the consequences if these allegations are proven to be true.
Among the many punishments the UFC can choose to impose, it is possible that Jones might be stripped of his championship. Hence, with Tom Aspinall being the interim champion, he may be bestowed the world champion title by default. Unsurprisingly, fans have already come up with their versions of the event and believe the right course of action would be to make Aspinall the champion.
The fan reactions make it quite apparent that UFC followers are least interested in cutting Jones some slack. At the same time, they cannot stop praising Aspinall and are mostly in favor of him becoming the champion of the heavyweight division.
A commenter on X claimed Jon Jones intended to be stripped of the title just to prevent his inevitable fight with Tom Aspinall.
https://twitter.com/eeyyuhhh/status/1776667596693082211?s=46&t=OkCD820TcQoXWiWIefry3w
Fans were also heavily in favor of Aspinall, as one insisted that the 30-year-old has already become the heavyweight champion given the circumstances.
Aspinall right now pic.twitter.com/Q8pfQpqrEJ
— Chris Khairallah (@chriskhairalla) April 6, 2024
Likewise, another fan seconded this by claiming that the interim heavyweight champion need not prove his mettle as he was already a more established fighter.
In all reality Tom Aspinwall deserves every bit to be HW champ & he wants to fight Jon Jones to test himself & see if he can beat him. Tom's beat every HW at record times, proved higher lvl striking than Jones, high lvl wrestling, sub's. We don't even know Jons striking at HW?
— Chode_Toad_007 (@Chode_Toad07) April 6, 2024
Such reactions show that fans have made their favorite in this clash quite evident. However, Jones has completely refuted the charges against him and will remain the champion unless proven guilty.
Jon Jones breaks his silence
According to Jon Jones, these allegations have a mala fide intention behind them and lack merit. To substantiate his claim, he shared a video of him cooperating with the doping agents and even escorting them out after getting tested. Basing his claim on the video, Jones insisted that has has never been any proof of him getting violent or assaulting the testing agents.
“I want to address reports about me allegedly threatening a drug tester’s life and taking a phone,” He added, “I want to clarify that there is a video showing both drug testers leaving my home after the testing session, where we exchanged a high five and a hug. Although I was frustrated with the unprofessionalism and used profanity out of frustration it ended friendly and amicably, nothing threatening at all.”
While the public has already made their stance known, one must wait for the justice system to take its rightful course. Still, the allegations have given the champion a pretty bad look and the UFC will surely keep a close eye on the case.
