Jon Jones revealed that he could still continue his UFC career after his fight against Stipe Miocic, giving fans the hope that a match against Tom Aspinall could happen. Yet, according to the heavyweight champ, while it is possible, the Briton is “not important enough yet” to have a shot against him.
Earlier reports claim that “Bones” will have his last fight when he faces Miocic. The champ is currently recovering from an injury, with the heavyweight division in a stagnant state. This resulted in Aspinall protesting the promotion’s decision to allow the champ to keep the belt and asking the company to let him fight Miocic (then Jones in his return) instead. However, UFC is determined to push the fight, with CEO Dana White turning down the idea of a Jones vs. Aspinall. Nonetheless, the British fighter continued to make his callouts, which pushed the heavyweight champion to respond by criticizing the fighter’s record.
With all this, Aspinall promised to stop the callouts and give up on his “dream fight” against Jones, who is expected to hang up the gloves after fighting Miocic. According to the champ, he doesn’t want to “be like a lot of these other fighters who stuck around too long.” However, in his recent interview, the icon seemingly made a change of heart, saying things might still change depending on how his fight with the fellow veteran heavyweight will end up.
“I’m really gonna base on whether I continue to fight on how I compete against Stipe, how I heal up from this injury,” Jones said in a recent interview with Submission Radio. “I can blow Stipe out of the water, or it could be an absolute war…
“I feel totally reinvigorated, reenergized…I can’t just walk away, so the ball is rolling in a very positive direction for my career to continue.”
Some might think that this means Aspinall could still get the fight he’s been waiting for. Jones affirmed the idea that a match against the younger fighter is not impossible but kept his stance about his view of the fighter’s record. To recall, the champ expressed displeasure over the earlier callouts of the 30-year-old, pointing out that the British has “only four recognizable opponents” and only boasts an “imaginary championship.”
“I feel like I need to take one step at a time before seeing what I do next, but the Tom fight is definitely not off the table…as impressive as he is, he’s not important enough yet,” said Jones.
