Is Jon Jones truly ducking Tom Aspinall? The heavyweight landscape remains in flux as interim champion Aspinall continues his pursuit of a title unification against Jones, who holds the belt.
Aspinall’s not buying into the fan theories that suggest Jones is simply avoiding him; he believes “Bones” is playing a savvy game when it comes to promotion. During an interview on “Fight Lab” with TNT Sports, Aspinall explained how Jones’ initial responses were calculated and business-like:
“Day one, as a professional UFC fighter, if someone asks you about some other opponent, say I’m fighting [interviewer Adam Catterall] this weekend, if someone asks me, ‘Right, what about this other guy who’s not involved?’ I say, ‘I’m gonna get past Adam and then we’ll speak about him.’
“Jon didn’t do that. Jon immediately starts saying, ‘No, I don’t want to fight Tom,’ which the easiest thing in the world would be, ‘I’m gonna talk about it after Saturday. I’m not talking about it this week,’ but he kept bringing that into the conversation.”
Aspinall’s analysis highlights Jones’ focus on a specific strategy. His words suggest Jones sees a bigger picture; a strategic approach to build hype around future fights, perhaps even against a possible new opponent like Pereira.
UFC president Dana White has stated publicly that if Jones is to continue his career, he should face Aspinall for the undisputed championship. However, White has dismissed any possibility of Jones facing off with Pereira.
The question remains: will we see Jon Jones in action with Tom Aspinall soon? Only time will tell how this chess match unfolds.