They made a HW champion interim title fight between the two top contenders after Jones got injured. Jones is effectively getting people to side with him ducking the rightful HW title challenger to fight a 205er. I personally like the Pereira fight much more, but Jones is actively ducking the rightful number 1 contender. Just strip him at this point and then he can fight whoever he wants for legacy.
I understand
But, again, that's also the nature of the sport.
It's not just about Jon. This kind of thing has been happening in boxing for generations.
Both the athletes and the organization behind them want to make fights that make the most sense for the business, fights that will sell.
Pavlovic isn't a sell and unfortunately, that is the game. Would it be nice if it weren't a business and fights were made according to rankings, deservedness and nothing else? Sure. But that's projecting our own idealistic perception of things, rather than how they actually are.
I don't think Jones is going to bother fighting, unless it's a big fight. That's half the reason why he moved up to HW to begin with, it's what allowed him to push for a bigger / better contract with the ufc.
When you've been fighting for 15+ years and paid your dues, I'm of the mind that you've earned the right to seek out the biggest fights with the highest payouts.
People don't like Jon and these types are always invested in the next guy who supposedly knocks him out. They said it with Gane and these are the same people who said he was a can, after he got smoked. Then Pavlovic was the big boogeyman who Jones is terrified of. Now it's Aspinall.
Fans have been doing this shit for as long as I could remember. They want nothing more than to find some evidence Jones is a fraud so they can say they've been right all along.
You see the same thing with other polarizing figures as well. Nobody can possibly see things clearly when they're so deeply invested in that sort of anti Jones energy.