After a series of callouts, Tom Aspinall finally gave up on asking Jon Jones for his “dream fight.” And while some might argue that the champ is just scared to fight a younger opponent in the cage, the Briton believes it is a logical and “smart” move from Jones.
Aspinall started his aggressive callouts after winning the interim heavyweight belt at UFC 295 by beating Sergei Pavlovich via KO. The challenge was initially ignored by Jones, but later made a string of criticisms after Aspinall asked for his belt to be stripped and Miocic to be given to him. “Bones” reiterated his plan to only fight Miocic and tapped on the talks about his retirement after this.
After that, Aspinall revealed that the UFC actually offered him to fight Miocic but claimed that the veteran refused to take it. With all this, the British fighter has realized that there really is no chance for him to face any of the two fellow heavyweights, especially Jones. Ultimately, the fighter promised to “stop crying” and “accept it.”
It is apparently sad news for the interim champ’s fans, who might see Jone’s refusal as a sign of fear. Yet, for Aspinall, this is actually a smart decision for Jones.
“I think a lot of people get it twisted what I said. I’ve got so much respect for both Jon and Stipe,” Aspinall said on The K/O Show. “I think he’s (Jones’) smart, I don’t think he’s scared. I think if the shoe was on the other foot, I’d be trying to do the same thing. If I could get more money, potentially, for fighting a guy who is 42, not fought for four years, and is coming off a loss, as opposed to a guy who is active, 30, and kicking everyone out, I would definitely take the 42-year-old and get the more money and the easier fight.”
