UFC 309 will see the infamous Jon ‘Bones’ Jones return, defending his Heavyweight Title for the first time against Stipe Miocic. However, a popular debate surrounding the fight is that it should be Interim Heavyweight Champion, Tom Aspinall, in Miocic’s place – with many fans claiming that Jones is avoiding the Aspinall fight.
Jones vs Miocic
Maddison Square Garden will be the home of the highly anticipated UFC 309 main event, where we will see Jones, who many consider the consensus Greatest of All Time, return after a long spell of limited activity. Jones has had only one fight in the last 4 years, with his last bout being against contender Cyril Gane in early 2023 – who he dominated and beat in the 1st round to claim the Heavyweight Crown.
However, both parties in the main event have had minimal activity over the last 4 years, with Miocic’s last fight in 2020, where he was brutally knocked out by Francis Ngannou – losing the Heavyweight Title. Stipe returns to the octagon with 4 years off at 42, and many fans are questioning what makes him deserving of this title shot.
Although this fight is being marketed as a legacy-defining bout – with arguably the Greatest of All Time, in Jones, vs many people’s Best Heavyweight Ever, both fighters’ inactivity has been a talking point in the lead-up to the fight. Many fans are questioning why two fighters with a combined two fights in four years are still in a position to be fighting for the title – especially with Interim Champion Tom Aspinall actively calling for a title unification fight with Jones for almost a year.
Is Jones Avoiding Aspinall?
In a recent interview with Kevin Iole, Jones stated that even if he defeats Miocic, he will likely not defend his title against Aspinall. His reasoning remains consistent with what he’s stated for nearly a year when asked about defending against Aspinall: he believes a win over Aspinall does nothing to further his legacy. Jones went on to say that he “feels like Aspinall…just hasn’t proven anything, hasn’t done anything…” and that he is “here to compete against guys where we look back 10 years from now and say, Jon Jones fought this legend and that legend and this champion”. Over the past few years, Jones ‘legacy’ is something he has discussed more and more, and was a big part of why he took the Stipe fight – defeating arguably the Greatest Heavyweight of all time is quite the feather in a fighter’s cap after all.
Jones’s comments about Aspinall not furthering his legacy have sparked debates amongst fans regarding if Jones is ducking the fight as he does not want to risk the chance of losing to an athletic, powerful, and hungry 31-year-old contender. Currently, Aspinall has more simultaneous Top 10 wins than any Heavyweight in history. He has dismantled 5 out of the current Top 10 contenders, all via first-round finishes – with wins over names such as Blaydes, Volkov, and Spivac. The fight in which he won his Interim Title was against Sergei Pavlovich, who Jones seems to disregard as a worthy contender in his interview. Ironically, Pavlovich was coming off a 6-fight win streak all with 1st Round knockouts, before Aspinall finished him in just a total of 1:09.
Aspinall’s resume speaks for itself, making Jones comment that he has not proved anything a comment which fans are using to promote further the idea that Jones is avoiding Aspinall. Despite the discussions it has caused, Jones stands firm on his opinion that he will only be taking fights that he considers to be furthering his legacy, and he does not see how Aspinall would do that. Suppose Jones successfully defends his title against Miocic. In that case, he has alluded that a super fight with Light Heavyweight Champion Alex Pereira could interest him.
