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Jon Jones slammed the door on any chance that he’ll ever fight Tom Aspinall but it turns out his reasoning is much more personal that he originally stated.
As he prepared for his return against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309, Jones said numerous times that he wasn’t interested in Aspinall because the fight didn’t really do much in terms of his career or legacy. On Tuesday, Jones doubled down on why he’s not interested in Aspinall as an opponent but then he blasted the British born heavyweight for his attitude in trying to make the fight happen.
“If I’m being completely honest, I feel like Tom’s been such an assh*le that I don’t want to do business with him,” Jones said during UFC 309 media day. “His fans have been so annoying and obviously you don’t get this far in a career being affected by fans or what not, but he’s just an assh*le. He’s 30 so he’s from this influencer generation where you hop online with the t-shirt sales and all that. I’m past that type of stuff. I’m like bro if you had a little bit more respect then maybe we could have something out. I just don’t even want to do business with him.
“At the end of the day, this is a business. Fighting me gives him the opportunity to change his life forever. I don’t even want to give him the opportunity. He just played his cards wrong with me personally. I’m three years from being a 40-year-old grown man. The press conference, going through the whole shebang with him, I’d rather not do.”
Aspinall has been rather vocal about his disdain for Jones fighting Miocic on Saturday rather than facing him as the interim heavyweight champion. When he addressed the matchup on his YouTube channel just ahead of UFC 309, Aspinall called Jones and Miocic “two old farts” who are fighting for the “most disputed title” in the promotion right now.
What was largely an argument about competition has now turned into name calling with a whole lot of trash talk and Jones just wants no part of it.
On the flipside, Jones looks at a potential matchup against somebody like UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira that checks every box he wants as far as an opponent to keep him going after he faces Miocic on Saturday.
Pereira has already won titles in two different divisions in the UFC, he’s a former GLORY kickboxing champion and now arguably one of the biggest stars on the entire roster. Add to that, Jones feels like Pereira has been very respectful towards him and that might be the one trait that matters most right now.
“Pereira on the other side — respectful, cool, barely says much. I’ll do business with you,” Jones said. “I would risk it all with a human being like you. You actually have the accolades to back up your shit. The other guy is just a big mouth who’s hot today.
“There’s been so many guys who’s hot today who are just gone. Sergei [Pavlovich] was in the same position not too long ago and now he’s starting to fall off already. I’ve just been around this sport too long to give a big mouth who’s hot today the opportunity.”
As much as he dislikes Aspinall as a person, Jones understands the narrative being built up around the interim heavyweight champion as a serious threat to his nearly unblemished resume.
Maybe that’s true but Jones also knows there have been plenty of fighters just like that throughout his career who were supposed to be his equal.
“I get that Tom is an exciting fighter,” Jones said. “I get that finally after 16 years we found somebody who is seven years younger than me and 30 pounds bigger than me, we finally found someone who may give me a great challenge and everyone wants to see it so bad. For me, what’s in it for me? He changes nothing if I beat him.
“Beating Tom is just like beating Ciryl Gane. Has a whole country behind him, he’s hot right now — what happens to me after I beat him? Nothing changes for me.”
Jones can’t predict what happens after UFC 309 but assuming he gets through Miocic, he’s given the organization the fight and the opponent that would keep him around for a little while longer.
If the UFC is adamant on making the fight against Aspinall then Jones has no problem just calling it career and riding off into the sunset.
“The main goal is to get past Stipe. If I can do it in a really dominant, devastating fashion then the desire in my heart would be like OK, now it’s Alex Pereira,” Jones said. “If the UFC doesn’t want that to happen because ultimately it’s the boss’ decision, then it won’t happen and I’ll just move on with my life.
“One of the ways I look at it is would you guys rather lose me or get one more super fight and the only super fight that makes sense to me — not to everyone else but to me and my team — is Alex Pereira.”
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Last Stand?
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Celebrity pugilist Jake Paul collides with former WBC heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in a professionally sanctioned boxing match on Friday night (Nov. 15, 2024) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. In the Netflix-streamed co-main event, undisputed super lightweight champion Katie Taylor rematches unified featherweight titleholder Amanda Serrano.
All four combatants will take the stage on Weds. afternoon (Nov. 13) for the “Paul vs. Tyson” final press conference, streaming LIVE at 7 p.m. ET in the embedded video above. In addition, pre-fight face offs will be conducted at the conclusion of today’s presser in “The Lone Star State.” Don’t expect “El Gallo” to get a warm welcome from fight fans.
“It’s crazy to think that in my second pro fight, I went viral for knocking out Nate Robinson on Mike Tyson’s undercards,” Paul said in a recent press release. “Now, less than four years later, I’m stepping up to face Tyson myself to see if I have what it takes to beat one of boxing’s most notorious fighters and biggest icon.”
“My sights are set on becoming a world champion,” Paul continued. “Now I have a chance to prove myself against the greatest heavyweight champion ever, the baddest man on the planet and the most dangerous boxer of all time.”
For the finalized “Paul vs. Tyson” fight card and Netflix lineup click here.
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By nearly every metric, Fedor's accomplishments and legacy dwarf that of Miocic (who, to be fair, is the UFC HW GOAT). Let's delve into the numbers.
Fedor: 40–7 (1) pro record, Fighter of the Decade (2000-2009), Pride HW Champion (3 defenses), 12 elite wins over highly ranked opponents, 9-1 against UFC Champions.
Stipe: 20–4 pro record, UFC HW Champion (4 defenses), 10 elite wins over highly ranked opponents, 6-3 against UFC Champions.
Now, let's take a deeper look into their careers. Fedor went essentially undefeated in his prime (the sole loss being a cut that wasn't actually that bad, a highly disputed loss), tore through the heavyweight division for a full decade as a 6 foot heavyweight (he arguably had a middleweight / light heavyweight frame), and was one of the great innovators of the sport's history, particularly as a transition fighter and in his vicious application of GnP. Fedor beat a who's who of heavyweight greats from the era, including Nogueira 2x, Crocop, Arlovski, Big Tim, Coleman, and Randleman (Couture being the only major heavyweight champ of the era that Fedor didn't fight, and not for a lack of trying by both fighters). In the second decade of Fedor's career, his prime years behind him, he went 9-6, and became more of a burst counterpuncher, clocking in 7 of 9 wins via KO/TKO.
Stipe had a legendary career, and was certainly the most accomplished UFC HW Champion. A true heavyweight, 6'4 and 235 lbs with a six pack, Miocic is one of the great boxer-wrestlers of heavyweight history. He had a game which was simple but effective, using crisp straight punches and good movement to outduel most of his opponents, although he was notably felled by 4 of his rivals in his prime UFC run (3 of those 4 losses by KO/TKO). Despite losing to those 4 men, Miocic was also able to score wins over 3 of them, and overall holds some great name wins, including Cormier, Ngannou, Cigano, Werdum, Arlovski, and Overeem. Unlike Fedor, Miocic's career largely took place inside of one decade; the second decade of Miocic's career contains his close decision win in the rubber match with Cormier, and getting starched by Ngannou.
At the end of the day, Fedor simply had higher highs in his career, had a better prime, and had more longevity than Stipe. If Miocic beats Jones, it does breathe life into the second decade of his career, but won't be enough to unseat Fedor as the heavyweight GOAT.
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Don’t expect Stipe Miocic to get drawn into a war of words with Jon Jones.
With just days remaining until they meet in the UFC 309 main event, the seemingly respectful showdown took an odd turn after UFC Countdown aired prior to fight week. In the feature, Miocic said “bring it on, bitch” when addressing Jones and that apparently upset the reigning UFC heavyweight champion, who took to social media to fire back at his upcoming opponent.
“Hiring black fighters to mimic me will not help you, Stipe,” Jones wrote. “And you shouldn’t have called me a bitch, the disrespect wasn’t necessary. Let’s play.”
Hiring black fighters to mimic me will not help you Stipe. And you shouldn’t have called me a bitch, the disrespect wasn’t necessary. Let’s play. #UFCcountdown
— BONY (@JonnyBones) November 11, 2024
Miocic has no idea why Jones got so rattled by such an innocuous comment, but he’s not spending a lot of time thinking about it.
“I keep talking about that,” Miocic said during UFC 309 media day. “He was literally telling everyone he was going to beat my ass. I’m almost positive. Did he not say that before [I called him a bitch]? Sorry. Talk shit about me but whatever.”
If anything got Miocic heated it was Jones’ claim that he was “hiring Black fighters” to help him prepare for the fight.
“That was bullshit because they’re my teammates,” Miocic said. “They’re like, ‘We’re not getting paid?’ Apparently, I’m hiring people, too. Whatever.”
Throughout his career, Jones has engaged in a few tense rivalries, perhaps none uglier than his longstanding feud with Daniel Cormier. He also went through something similar with former teammate Rashad Evans after Jones became UFC champion while they were originally training under the same coaches.
Perhaps Jones’ comments towards Miocic are a way to get him more amped up for the fight or maybe it’s just a promotional tool to stir up more pay-per-view buys. Whatever the case, Miocic doesn’t really care much about what Jones has to say about him.
“Maybe [that’s what he needs to get motivated], maybe not,” Miocic said. “I don’t know what he’s thinking but some of the stuff, I’m just like OK. I literally had no idea [what he said] until somebody told me. It’s funny. It’s just comical. It’s actually very funny.”
It turns out his philosophy of not paying much attention to what’s said about him was an epiphany for Miocic that changed his career forever.
In the past, he admits that off-handed comments from fighters or fans would get under his skin, but Miocic learned over time that none of it really matters.
“In the beginning of my career, I was a little sensitive about it,” Miocic said. “You don’t know me, I don’t know you but why are you saying shit like that to me? I would get terrible [direct messages] and stuff. Like what is wrong with you? You don’t know me.
“But I literally just stopped caring because I realized, they don’t know me, I don’t know them. They’re just pissed off about something and they’re just trying to take it out on me. I could care less honestly. It’s the best thing I ever did in my life.”
Just because he doesn’t give fiery comments any oxygen doesn’t mean that Miocic has escaped that kind of vitriol coming his way. The difference these days, much like with what Jones had to say about him, is that Miocic pretty much just ignores it and moves on.
“You get hate all the time,” Miocic said. “You get DMs all the time [saying,] ‘You’re a piece of shit, I hope you die.’ Whatever. It is what it is.”
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Alexander Volkanovski is adding his name to the list of fighters signing off on a future Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall fight.
Though Jones defends his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 this Saturday, it’s interim champion Aspinall who has claimed many of the headlines as he has pursued a fight with Jones for the past year. Jones and Miocic were originally scheduled to fight at UFC 295 in November 2024, but when a pectoral injury forced Jones out of the contest, Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich were called upon to fight for an interim title. Aspinall went on to defeat Pavlovich by 69-second knocokut.
Since then, there have been calls for Jones to fight Aspinall in a unification bout—much to Jones’ chagrin—but he and the UFC prioritized the Miocic re-booking. Breaking down the UFC 309 main event on his YouTube channel, Volkanovski made the case for Jones having to fight Aspinall should he defeat Miocic.
“I’m sure Jon Jones is sick of hearing this, but the Tom Aspinall fight is the fight everyone wants to see,” Volkanovski said. “You want to be a heavyweight champion, you want to claim that crown—that might sound wrong, because you did claim it. It was a vacant belt and you fought [Ciryl] Gane for it and you got it, but it’s going to be hard to convince me you’re defending champ if you don’t fight Tom Aspinall while he’s the interim champ and the biggest threat.
“Does Jon Jones even need to do this? No, he’s already got an incredible legacy. But if you want to claim the heavyweight division, so you were a proper double champ… you’ve got to fight Tom Aspinall. If you really want that on your résumé saying that I’m the best heavyweight while I was here, you have to fight Tom Aspinall. I think he is definitely the biggest threat. The wrestling, everywhere, he can be dangerous everywhere, and he’s a legit heavyweight. Explosive, fast. That’s the fight that I hope to see.”
Rather than discuss a potential fight with Aspinall, Jones has mentioned light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira as an opponent he’d like to face. In short time, Pereira has become one of the UFC’s most popular fighters, winning titles at 185 and 205 pounds, and flirting with the idea of jumping up one more division to become the promotion’s first triple champion.
Volkanovski sees the appeal in Jones vs. Pereira, but still wants to see interim champion get the fight that he deserves.
“What he gets out of beating [Aspinall] would be, I think for most of us, the guys that are in the know, that would be huge,” Volkanovski said. “But when you’re talking money and things like that and star power, I win over Pereira right now would be massive. That’s probably one of the biggest fights you could do right now, so I can see why he’s pointed there, but get rid of the heavyweight belt then. … The interim champ’s there, you need to fight him and that’s just how it is.”
As for how the action unfolds on fight night, Volkanovski is going with the favored Jones to take care of business. In 29 pro bouts, Jones’ only blemishes are disqualification loss to Matt Hamill in a bout that he dominated from start to finish, and a July 2017 bout with Daniel Cormier that was overturned from a Jones knockout win to a no-contest when Jones later tested positive for a banned substance.
Miocic also brings an impressive list of accolades with him to Madison Square Garden. The Cleveland native holds the record for most successful UFC heavyweight title defenses (4) and has knocked out a list of legends, including Daniel Cormier, Junior dos Santos, Fabricio Werdum, Andrei Arlovski, and Mark Hunt. However, Miocic has not competed since a knockout loss to Francis Ngannou in March 2021 and at 42 years old, his best days are behind him.
In a battle of legends, Volkanovski sees Jones coming out on top in convincing fashion.
“I love Stipe, but Jon Jones is going to be too good in this one,” Volkanovski said. “You can’t bet against him, and I think it probably will be a finish. Could be a submission, could be a TKO. Do I think it’s a one-punch knockout? No. Does he hurt him? Knees to the body, just breaking him properly down, like buckle his legs, knees, or bust his ribs, just painful TKO if that makes sense.
“Like, boom, boom, boom, and then trying to protect himself because he’s really hurt and the ref has to just stop it. I can see something like that happen. And I can see that happening maybe in the first few rounds, first couple of rounds even, maybe second-round TKO for Jon Jones.”
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David Onama is staying on UFC 309.
Officials announced Wednesday that newcomer Roberto Romero (8-3-1) has signed on to fight Onama (12-2) on the preliminary portion of this Saturday’s event in New York on less than a week’s notice. Romero replaces Lucas Almeida, who was forced off the card due to medical issues, according to UFC.
Romero’s management was first to make the signing public.
We’re very pleased & excited to announce that #TeamIridium beast Roberto Romero is taking his talents to the @ufc’s Octagon & will debut Saturday at #UFC309 ✍ #TheDarkside pic.twitter.com/t4hN0CgaNi
— IridiumSportsAgency (@TeamIridiumISA) November 13, 2024
Onama was originally scheduled to fight Almeida at 145 pounds, but the new matchup will be contested at 155 pounds to accommodate the last-second change.
Romero, 24, was a standout in Combate Global, winning six of his eight fights for the promotion. Most recently, he finished Takahiro Ashida via first-round rear-naked choke this past July.
Onama has emerged as an intriguing name in the featherweight division. He is coming off of back-to-back wins over Jonathan Pearce and Gabriel Santos, and has won four of his past five fights.
UFC 309 is headlined by heavyweight champion Jon Jones defending his title against the returning Stipe Miocic.
Main card (ESPN+ PPV at 10 p.m. ET)
Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic
Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler
Viviane Araujo vs. Karine Silva
Bo Nickal vs. Paul Craig
Mauricio Ruffy vs. James Llontop
Prelims (ESPNews/FX/Hulu/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET)
Jonathan Martinez vs. Marcus McGhee
Chris Weidman vs. Eryk Anders
Jim Miller vs. Damon Jackson
David Onama vs. Roberto Romero
Prelims (ESPN+/Hulu/UFC Fight Pass at 6 p.m. ET)
Marcin Tybura vs. Jhonata Diniz
Mickey Gall vs. Ramiz Brahimaj
Bassil Hafez vs. Oban Elliott
Veronica Hardy vs. Eduarda Moura
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