Daniel Cormier doesn’t necessarily agree with his former foe Jon Jones when it comes to his reasoning to pass on a potential fight against Tom Aspinall but that doesn’t mean anybody is running scared.
In the days leading up to his heavyweight title defense against Stipe Miocic in the UFC 309 main event, Jones revealed that he has no interest in facing Aspinall as the interim champion but if he chooses to fight again, light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira might be worth his time. For his part, Cormier understands why Pereira is the preferrable matchup over Aspinall but he doesn’t buy that Jones is terrified of any opponent he could face in the octagon.
“Jon Jones isn’t afraid of Tom Aspinall,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “I wish people would stop saying that. He is not afraid of that guy. He’s not afraid of anyone. He’s not afraid to fight this guy. He’s not.
“I think he’s trying to be more strategic I think he’s trying to make sure his legacy stands. I don’t know how it could ever be faded. I mean we do have short memories but could you ever forget what he did? I don’t think fighting Tom Aspinall with the potential that he would lose is a bad thing. But as most would expect him to win the fight.”
In terms of attention and selling pay-per-views, Cormier totally understands why Jones would rather face Pereira over Aspinall but he also believes there’s another reason why that particular fight holds more weight with the reigning UFC heavyweight champion.
“Yes, financially it would make sense,” Cormier explained. “It would [also] be much less risky because of that glaring hole in the matchup. I don’t know if Alex Pereira can defend takedowns against the best guys. He’s wrestling Glover [Texeira], I’m sure Glover’s teaching him how to defend takedowns. I’m sure Glover, who’s a tremendous wrestler himself, has him prepared but I don’t know how he will do in live action against a truly elite [high level] wrestler. Because Jan Blachowicz isn’t and he was able to take him down effectively.
“So yeah, Jon would prefer that matchup because it’s much less risky than fighting Tom Aspinall. Financially, he does have a point. That is the biggest money fight for him with the less risk because people now know Pereira.”
Where Cormier splits from Jones is when he stopped just short of calling Aspinall a “nobody” and added that the British born heavyweight just hasn’t beaten anybody worthwhile to get his attention. Jones stated that he was done risking his legacy against up and coming fighters trying to build a name off of him.
As much as Jones protested about Aspinall’s resume, Cormier says the argument falls short because he’s not just taking on some random contender in the division. Jones would be facing the interim champion and Aspinall’s accomplishments to earn that belt can’t be ignored.
“[Mauricio] ‘Shogun’ [Rua] had to fight Jon Jones back in the day,” Cormier said. “‘Rampage’ [Quinton Jackson] had to fight Jon Jones back in the day. Those guys were big names that fought him as the young guy that was a champion and he made a name off of all those legends. So that by the time that I got to him, he was a legend. Already in 2015, 2016, he was already a legend in fighting years but that was only because he had beaten all those great guys before. It really is the tale of sport, right? The tale of entertainment.
“Before Michael Jordan could be Michael Jordan, he had to go through the Detroit Pistons, who were winning in the 80s. He had to beat the Boston Celtics to get to the finals, who were going back and forth with the Lakers. The old guard has to get passed through for the new guard to happen. So for Jon to say he’s a nobody — but is he really? He’s the world champ. Honestly, that’s who he is. He is the No. 2 heavyweight in the world. He’s the interim champ. He’s not a guy that’s just working his way through the division. This is a guy that’s smashed the division.”
By all accounts, Jones isn’t budging on his disinterest when it comes to Aspinall but Cormier also argues that this could just be a way to publicly negotiate for a much bigger purse to take that fight.
If the UFC really wants to make Jones vs. Aspinall, it might force the promotion to add a couple of extra zeroes to any potential payday to make it happen.
But Cormier also understands the risk versus reward scenario for Jones where he could face a heavyweight like Aspinall with eight finishes in the UFC with only one opponent making it past the first round or he could take on a light heavyweight in Pereira, who is a lethal striker but not known as a top level grappler.
“I don’t think he’s scared,’ Cormier said. “Is there a worry that he could lose that match? As I read [his comments], it sounds more and more like it. But he’s not because of fear. He doesn’t really feel like the juice is worth the squeeze.”
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