Jon Jones will finally participate in the much anticipated UFC heavyweight legacy fight between him and Stipe Miocic. The fight takes place at UFC 309 inside the iconic Madison Square Garden and the hype around it is massive. Ahead of the fight, UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has been announced as the official backup fighter. However, according to Daniel Cormier, that won’t be necessary.
Daniel Cormier recently did a podcast with Ben Askren where both legends talked about the upcoming Jones vs. Miocic fight. Cormier mentioned that if anybody from Jones or Miocic backs out, the other will not fight Aspinall on short notice. DC believes if things go south then Aspinall will again have to defend his interim title against Ciryl Gane.
Neither one of those guys are fighting Tom Aspinall if they don’t have to. It’ll be Tom Aspinall versus Ciryl Gane or somebody for the interim championship…Those guys are fighting each other and nobody else
Daniel Cormier via his YouTube channel
To back his opinions, DC further gave the example of UFC 296 from which Jones pulled out due to injury. Back then, Sergei Pavlovich was the official backup fighter but Miocic didn’t fight him. Instead, Pavlovich fought Tom Aspinall in the co-main event. The main event was saved by Dana White‘s knight in shining armor, Alex Pereira who fought Jiri Prochazka.
Daniel Cormier doesn’t think that Jon Jones or Stipe Miocic will fight Tom Aspinall at #UFC309 even though he’s the backup fighter:
“Neither one of those guys are fighting Tom Aspinall if they don’t have to. It’ll be Tom Aspinall versus Ciryl Gane or somebody for the interim… pic.twitter.com/9AjZkhyCPS
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) September 23, 2024
However, this time Pereira as well as other top pay-per-views such as Islam Makhachev will not be available to do so. White, however, is highly confident about Jones and isn’t missing any opportunity to promote his superstar. On top of that, Jones’s potential retirement after UFC 309 has further increased the hype around the bout.
Will Jon Jones be forgotten after retirement?
After his fight with Stipe Miocic got the official green light, Jon Jones broke the internet by confirming his retirement. This certainly started a debate about the legacy that the fighter will leave behind. Jones is undoubtedly the most decorated fighter in the history of MMA. However, his departure is filled with allegations about him ducking Tom Aspinall.
Many fans believe that Jones should have fought a young and hungry Tom Aspinall instead of an old Stipe Miocic. On the flip side, others are happy with Jones leaving the sport after his legacy fight against the heavyweight GOAT. Chael Sonnen recently talked about this situation and gave a rather interesting perspective on Jones’ relationship with new MMA fans.
New fans went up 68 percent during COVID…Jon’s only fought once since COVID…So, you have a massive amount of fans who are not introduced to Jon…I think that’s gonna bother Jon and I don’t believe that it’s gonna be Jon’s last fight.
Chael Sonnen via his YouTube channel
Jones is well known for his ego and his drive to prove why he’s the greatest of all time. Sonnen, as a former opponent of ‘Bones’, is well aware of this fact. Nevertheless, everything now depends on what will happen as the countdown begins for UFC 309.
