Does Jon Jones beating Aspinall increase his legacy by a lot?

[Takes Two To Tango]

I think so, Aspinall is pretty much the next biggest thing at HW, that's if he isn't already. He's young, very well skilled fighter and could very well be the champion for a good while. Once everything settles down and people start finally leaving the sport.

I don't understand why Jon Jones thinks it's not a good legacy fight, when it obviously is. The guy is fresh new blood, who's ranked #1 contender with an interim belt.

Stipe in the other hand is a mystery, who's not currently ranked. Hasn't fought for so long and we don't know what Stipe will show up against Jones.

I think it's a cop out for Jones. I think Jones knows he could easily lose to Aspinall and look foolish in the process. But Stipe can surprise everyone and just KO Jones. To me it's just a bunch of excuses by Jones.

He should fight the #1 contender as of today. It's the right thing to do, that's if he chooses to retire. Which his prerogative and that's fine as well.

 

[Marko Polo]

Losing to Aspinall does more for his legacy than beating fossil Stipe

 

[Takes Two To Tango]

Losing to Aspinall does more for his legacy than beating fossil Stipe

Interesting take thanks.

 

[Leonard Haid]

It would be the icing on the cake, it would be the ultimate finishing touch on a stellar career, it would cement his GOAT status...it would add to his legacy in a big way, in my opinion.

 

[Simple Southerner]

No, not by a lot.

 

[Takes Two To Tango]

No, not by a lot.View attachment 1070754

Fair enough.

 

[Pompey Junglist]

I think so. Aspinall is the very best of the next generation, head and shoulders above the overwhelming majority of heavyweight contenders. If Jones beat him at his age and called it a day, it would be the ultimate cherry on the cake.

It would also be a fine investment. If Aspinall went on to dominate the division afterwards, it would simply inflate the greatness of Jones.

Against this we have the delusional idea that submitting a guy who started learning MMA a few years ago, then beating a middle aged, long-retired fire-fighter, somehow means anything.

 

[Takes Two To Tango]

How many of these threads are there by now lol

One and only. : - )

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

Jones legacy is already huge, 15 title fights and all wins, never even been rocked or dropped , let alone finished. But of course that was all at LHW, so his legacy is cemented in LHW. But in terms of HW then yes beating Tom would be a huge thing and would show that he would dominate at HW also because he would have already beat Gane, Stipe and Tom at that point, and HW is so thin and poor that you can't make reasonable arguments saying well he hasn't beat Jake Collier or Rozenstriuk or Tuivasa yet lol

 

[ssBaldy]

Yes, beating Aspinall decisively will improve his legacy a lot. It will prove his legitimacy at HW and prove he kept elite shape for all those years.

 

[Bork Neslar]

They'll never fight.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

It would be one of the best wins in the history of MMA to be honest.

 

[Takes Two To Tango]

It would be one of the best wins in the history of MMA to be honest.

I totally agree. It's a super legit win.

 

[CannotWin]

Nothing can save his legacy at this point.

 

[TerraRayzing]

If he wins against Tom who is setting records for the shortest fight time, then he has won the game.

 

[Pem123]

Yes, beating the current 1# HW in the world does a lot to any fighter's legacy

it will finally answer the question " can Jones survive the HW division when he doesnt have the size advantage "

 

[World eater]

Who cares. If the champ can get away with not fighting the interim, the whole concept of an actual sport goes out of the window. Or remove interim fights alltogether, the way it works now is laughable.

 

[Trabaho]

No. Losing to Tom doesn't really improve Jons legacy. That's why he is ducking.

 

[BangBang]

Nothing can save his legacy at this point.

Username checks out

 

[OldBoy91]

Of course it does. People have been speculating how Jon would do against a top level, well rounded heavyweight since the days of Cain and JDS.

He never moved up during their era. Then came the Stipe, DC and Francis era, and again he did not move up.

Now the only guy who is well rounded and skilled enough to give Jon issues and is an actual top end HW size wise is Tom Aspinall. Hence why everybody wants to see how Jon would fare in that fight.

Not to mention Tom deserves it. Besides Gane he's essentially cleaned out the division and he hasn't been been given an undisputed title fight yet. He's lapping the division before winning the belt which is ridiculous.