Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones will remain rivals forever. As such, Cormier will not hesitate to bash him at times. However, he will praise Jones if it is warranted. Jones refusing to fight Tom Aspinall has not earned any favors from fans or fighters. He returns to the fold for a 265-pound maiden defense atop the UFC 309 pay-per-view (PPV) main event.
Jon Jones stirred the pot ahead of his heavyweight championship defense against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309. He claimed he had no interest in a title unification with the Brit interim heavyweight champion should he get his hand raised. This has garnered much backlash from the MMA community. Despite being at odds, old rival Daniel Cormier rolls in with his assessment.
Look, Jon Jones isn’t afraid of Tom Aspinall, …I wish people would stop saying that. He is not afraid of that guy. He is not afraid of anyone. He is not afraid to fight this guy. He’s not. I think he’s trying to be more strategic. He’s trying to make sure his legacy stands. I don’t know it could ever be faded.
Daniel Cormier via his Official YT Channel (@@DC_MMA)
According to Jones, Aspinall’s efforts inside the octagon “did nothing” to appeal for the matchup. Tom Aspinall won the interim strap at the UFC 295 PPV exactly a year ago. Since then, he even made a rare defense of the substitute strap and blew past Curtis Blaydes. However, Jon Jones does not consider the nine-fight champ to be able to enhance his standing.
After UFC 309, the undisputed heavyweight champion said he finds a clash with Alex Pereira intriguing. So clearly, ducking isn’t the concern here. DC also promotes that Jones has a big enough legacy that the potential of losing to Aspinall wouldn’t be a bad enough thing.
Daniel Cormier rips into Jon Jones for ducking as losing to Tom Aspinall won’t affect legacy
Jon Jones insists he isn’t fretting about hearing he’s avoiding fighting interim champion Tom Aspinall. Making a return from a more than 20-month layoff Saturday at UFC 309 pay-per-view, he is already singing his swan song.
The 37-year-old has billed that Tom Aspinall didn’t convince him the matchup is worth extending his retirement time. Only big super fight names intrigue him, and the Brit heavyweight isn’t it. The nature and tone of his comments have frustrated the MMA community. That’s only entertaining Jones, who took to Instagram Live on Saturday and said he wouldn’t let the drama change his mentality.
Interim belts, by default, mean that unification should happen to unify the status when the undisputed champ returns. Now, Daniel Cormier weighs in on the thought that Aspinall means ‘nothing’ and hasn’t done anything.
Shogun’ had to fight Jon Jones back in the day, ‘Rampage’ had to fight Jon Jones back in the day. Those guys were big names that fought him as the young guy that was the champion, and he made a name off of all those legends, … So for Jon to say he’s a nobody – but is he really? He’s a world champion. 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.
Daniel Cormier further said
Cormier can’t buy into the concept that Jones fears Aspinall, or any man, after his work in nearly 15 years at the top. Conversely, he thinks the script and betting odds would have him at the top. So, giving some space to Aspinall wouldn’t blemish him. This isn’t the only time he has upheld the value of his legacy.
He alludes that even Michael Jordan had to beat behemoths like the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics in back-and-forth with the Lakers. Only then did he get to the ‘Jordan’ legacy. Jones has done the same, tearing through light heavyweights one at a time. So, to say he does not want Aspinall to pawn off his fame is plain odd.
