Despite Jon Jones repeatedly expressing a lack of interest in a fight against him, Tom Aspinall continues to be persistent in urging the champ to do so. This led to Jones’ series of criticism of the Briton, which was welcomed by frowns from some fans. For Chael Sonnen, nonetheless, “Bones” could have ended it with just a simple yes or no.
After winning the interim heavyweight belt, Aspinall started his series of callouts toward Jones. The move initially received zero response from Jones, who’s currently recovering from his surgeries. However, things turned sour between the two after the younger fighter accused the UFC of protecting the icon and demanded the promotion to strip his belt. The heavyweight king responded to the response negatively, but this didn’t deter Aspinall from continuing his plea.
Later, the British proposed fighting Stipe Miocic, who’s set to face Jones in his return. The callouts continued until Jones responded with a series of hot insults targeting Aspinall’s fight records and résumé, saying he could barely recognize many of the fighters he fought. The criticism was frowned upon by some fans in the community, including long-time MMA Journalist of the Year awardee Ariel Helwani.
Sonnen, nonetheless, said all of this could have been avoided if Jones just resorted to a simple answer of yes or no instead of lambasting the fellow fighter. The promoter went on to cite Daniel Cormier’s similar case with Curtis Blaydes, who also demanded to fight him. According to Sonnen, Cormier’s direct and clear response ended the request without starting a fire.
“Daniel Cormier dismissed effectively Curtis Blaydes,” Sonned said on the recent episode of his You’re Welcome podcast. “I was there the night that he did it, he did it on the ESPN desk. He’d just got done fighting, Curtis had called him out and Daniel was a gentleman. He said, ‘Hey, that guy’s good. He’s got reach, his striking’s improved, a national champion wrestler, he’s younger, he’s got a great career in front of him. But he and I will never share the octagon.’ And Daniel didn’t say it’s because it’s not a competitive fight. He didn’t say he was better than him. He didn’t even say he could beat him. He said, ‘I’m a champion, I get [pay-per-view] points. I fight people that have big names. You don’t…’
“It was so effective, it was never discussed again. Curtis Blaydes versus Daniel Cormier, when Daniel was champion, was never discussed again. So Jon Jones could come out and say, ‘You’re young and you’re good and I’m not looking for that. No.’ Or he could say, ‘You suck. No,’ but it would still be a definitive and he could end this. Or he could say, ‘Yes. Let’s stick with the plan. I have Stipe first, and then I will come see you.’”
Unfortunately, Sonnen thinks Jones is trapped in this as long as he’s refusing to give Aspinall a clear answer. For the analyst, “reasons don’t matter,” and a simple no will suffice.
