It’s not every day that most MMA cliques stand together as an untied front on an issue. Everyone wants to see Jon Jones face the absolute best opponent in his next bout. An injury forced Jones out of his UFC 295 title headliner, and Tom Aspinall grabbed the opportunity. He became the interim champion and has consistently called out Jones to unify the titles.
A close name to Jones advocates that the heavyweight titles should not be unified next. Jon Jones has remained hell-bent on fulfilling his legacy fight with former titleholder Stipe Miocic. Both are at the tail end of their physicality, and the match itself should be legacy enough, being the giants they are. Jones even went on an ungodly social media tirade for it. Now, ex-UFC heavyweight Yorgan De Castro weighs in on Jones’ first heavyweight defense.
I think Tom Aspinall, okay, he’s a young guy, he’s well-rounded,…a big dude. I mean, I love Tom Aspinall, but who did Tom Aspinall beat? We’ve gotta give Jon Jones his respect…He’s looking to fight Stipe or Francis (Ngannou) because of the name. This is probably gonna be his last fight…
Yorgan De Castro to Ryan C Jarrell (@SonOfJarrell20) / X in Exclusive interview to MMA News
Light-heavyweight king Alex Pereira, 10-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC, KO’ed Jamahal Hill at UFC 300. His aspiration of three-division glory remains a huge ambition in the UFC. He and Jon Jones have passively flirted with the idea of facing each other in a mega fight. Such big names interest Jones. The Cape Verdean Castro, who also trained with Jones during his heavyweight debut, supports his stance to shoot for big names.
Big names consequently matter because both Jones and Miocic are of advanced age. Jones prompted as much, dousing the sheer multitudes of title runs he and Stipe Miocic boast of. Tom Aspinall, as De Castro puts it, is just starting out. Fighting him does not do much for ‘Bones.’ Concurrently, yet another giant in the mix goes by the name of Francis Ngannou.
Yorgan De Castro upvotes Stipe Miocic or Francis Ngannou despite Tom Aspinall’s rightful contention status
The G.O.A.T product from Jackson’s MMA Acoma Gym once went on a sabbatical over pay distribution for a super fight with then-heavyweight Francis Ngannou. It’s been four years since then, and ‘The Predator’ has taken his exit from UFC. Ngannou will make his PFL debut in the near future. With more freedom of crossover grind, Jon Jones can end up being a name he locks out with.
Tom Aspinall does not pose much of a splurge to Jon Jones as some other names (Source: IMAGO/bloodyelbow.com/UFC.go.com)Jones, 27-1-0, is often considered the G.O.A.T. However, his constant snubbing of Tom Aspinall has gotten on the nerves of fans who just want to see something exciting. Having an interim strap by default allows one to enter title unification territory with the prodigal champ. However, Jones has remained very dismissive. De Castro explains why, given the Englishman’s minimal UFC résumé.
He [Jones] told me personally that he would love to fight Francis. That’s the thing that will get him off the bed…I know too he respects Tom Aspinall. But Tom Aspinall is young. Fighters go through moments in life. Jon, now he gets to choose what he’s going to do… Him beating Tom, what are people gonna say? … Who’d he beat?
Yorgan De Castro to MMA News
As De Castro said, Jones wants legacy fights that make the most amount of money. Options like Ngannou, Miocic, and even Alex Pereira make sense legacy-wise. However, Tom Aspinall remains the biggest threat to Jon Jones at the moment. As such, fans of the fight game wanted to see Jones vs. Aspinall. However, Jon Jones does not see any benefit to the matchup.
