At one point in time, Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones had one of the most bitter rivalries in all of MMA. Despite that, DC believes that if Jones and Tom Aspinall fought today, the former pound-for-pound kingpin would likely get the win.
During an appearance on Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo‘s Pound 4 Pound show, the former champ explained that Jones’ experience in five-round fights likely gives him the advantage, considering Aspinall has never made it to a third round.
With that in mind, DC believes that Jones’ best chance of defeating Aspinall would have been before the newly minted champ gets to experience a five-rounder.
“Gun to my head, I would have said Jon Jones will beat him right now. Tom was never pushed into those championship rounds. … [He’s never felt] that first time you feel that, ‘I gotta get up off that stool after that third round.’
“Tom hasn’t gotten off the stool for a third round. You (Jones) needed to fight Tom now when he doesn’t have that experience.”
You can see his comments below beginning shortly after the 23-minute mark.
Although Jones is now retired, Israel Adesanya believes that there’s a chance we see him return to the Octagon again in the future.
Aspinall Wishes Jones All the Best in Retirement
Since being promoted to heavyweight champion, Tom Aspinall has made it clear that he doesn’t want to dwell on a potential Jon Jones fight.
Despite that, Adam Catterall kicked off his recent sitdown with Aspinall by asking him about the former pound-for-pound kingpin’s retirement.
Although the past few months have been a roller-coaster ride, Aspinall took the high road, wishing Jones all the best:
“I just wish him all the best. Genuinely wish him all the best. If he feels satisfied with what he’s done, which he’s saying he is, and he’s happy to leave like that, then I genuinely wish him all the best.”
You can see his comments in the video below, beginning at the 59-second mark.
Even though The Last Stylebender has predicted that Jones will return, Aspinall feels as though he doesn’t know the former champ well enough to predict whether he returns in the future.
Instead, his focus is on cleaning out the division.
Tom Aspinall Outlines Four-Fight Plan for the Next 12 Months
With the Jon Jones saga now behind him, Tom Aspinall is eager to clear the logjam of contenders at heavyweight.
As he explained to Adam Catterall in the interview above, he’s hopeful that between now and the end of 2026, he can clean out the heavyweight division.
Currently, Aspinall has wins over six of the top-ten heavyweights on UFC.com. The four fighters he doesn’t have wins over are Ciryl Gane, Jailton Almedia, Waldo Cortes Acosta, and Derrick Lewis.
The expectation is that Aspinall will likely defend the belt against Gane in his next fight, although no date has been given by the UFC.
In the case of Almeida and Cortes Acosta, both fighters will likely need to pick up one more win in order to enter the heavyweight title conversation.
And finally, in the case of Derrick Lewis, the former title challenger has been open about the fact that after going 2-3 in his last five, he needs to string together wins before discussing a title fight.
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