Before his fight against Curtis Blaydes became final, Tom Aspinall went through hell and back. He won the interim strap at UFC 295 when Jon Jones was out. Since then, Aspinall has wanted to face Jones but to no avail. ‘Bones’ is heavily inclined to fight bigger names than the Brit. Hence, Aspinall is opting for what everybody gradually does when things do not fall in place: quit social media.
Though his dream fight once seemed possible, Jon Jones made it clear he would wait out. The 27-1 MMA and 21-1 UFC heavyweight demands his legacy clash with Stipe Miocic. They could end up meeting on Nov. 9, UFC’s annual PPV in Madison Square Garden Arena. Hence, Aspinall has decided to come off social media for his camp. The interim champ even explained why.
I realized that I spend a lot of time on social media…don’t like how much time I spend on it…In the time between training sessions now for the full camp, I want to be resting…social media drags me down a lot…people I speak to regularly on WhatsApp, I sent a blanket voice note, …I’m staying off social media for fight camp, I’ve got someone else posting for me.
Tom Aspinall via The MacLife (@TheMacLife)
Jon Jones’ estimates have him returning at his own pace at UFC 309. Meanwhile, Tom Aspinall defends his interim belt at UFC 304’s co-main event in July. With his hardware basically subbing for a chance for unification, Aspinall thinks it completes the heavyweight hierarchy. Hence, he opts not to engage irrelevantly with the absent champ.
This is no different than Blaydes, as he claimed the UFC 304 co-maint event has a true line of succession. In theory, a win over Miocic at UFC 300 would have thrust his chances at unification as well. However, even Miocic declined, only wanting to fight Jones. Soon after, the Englishman stopped actively calling them out. Now, he means business, focussing on the task at hand. Come UFC 304, it’s every heavyweight for himself.
Jon Jones slammed for ‘constantly posting’ about Tom Aspinall despite downplaying him
According to one boxing world champion, Tom Aspinall seems to have found his ticket into the mind of Jon Jones. Undisputed super-middleweight Savannah Marshall will make her mark at the PFL Europe headliner in Newcastle. She falls into Aspinall’s training circle of boxing buddies. The interim heavyweight from Team Kaobon MMA also sparred with Tyson Fury before Riyadh Season’s opening ceremony.
Afraid and obvious Jon Jones is justifying himself, says Tom Aspinall’s boxer friend (Source: heavy.com/ringtv.com)With a background in boxing and BJJ, Aspinall has remained instrumental in transitioning his fellow Brit into the MMA. Marshall means to vent it all one day on boxing rival Claressa Shields. Meanwhile, Aspinall remains miles away from title unification against one Jon Jones. Marshall isn’t one to engage in trash talks, but she couldn’t help but notice the internet tirade between them.
One thing I’ve noticed is that it seems like Jon Jones is always posting about Tom, He’s saying things…like reasons why he wouldn’t give Tom the opportunity…A couple of times I’ve went on and seen posts like that and it’s beginning to come across like he does think he’s a real threat now…
Savannah Marshall via a Bloody Elbow Exclusive
One of the great female boxers of her time, Marshall is now one of the rare fighters to transition from the ring to the cage. Aspinall went the other direction in his early career before jumping to the UFC. Now that she has trained with him, she thinks Jon Jones is threatened by the possibility of facing him.
Hence, Jones goes out of his way, indulging in reasons as to why he doesn’t prefer that fight, says the boxer. One thing is for sure: wherever the title strap lands, this chapter has been one for the books.
