I think there is a bit of a pickle with Jones fighting Tom

[ClosetVitorFan]

If Jones beats Aspinall much like he beat Cyrill Gane. Then Tom loses a lot of status for his era of fighter. Jones is on his way out. His days are numbered. If Jones loses, it's just oh well he's past his prime, he was on his way out anyway. There is less risk. But even with that said it would give Tom that clout to ride being champion in the ufc for a while. This is a fight Jones can very realistically win here. Even 2025 Jones.

It's a very risky move. I know Dana wants the fight a lot. But Tom is gonna be around for a while. He's young. Jones is not. It's better in some ways for Tom not to risk it, say Jones ducked him and wondering what could be, then fighting him and losing. Winning tho is quite the feather in his cap and the baton being rightfully passed to the newer generation.

What say you?

 

[OldBoy91]

Nah. If Jon goes down as the greatest fighter ever or one of, him squashing Tom doesn't affect him or the UFC going forward. Much in the same way that Vitali Klitschko losing to Lennox Lewis didn't affect him.

Similar if Aspinall KOs Jones. If Tom goes on to break the HW defense record and be known as the greatest HW of all time then Jon moving up and losing to him in only his 3rd HW fight, after being a career 205er doesn't really matter in the long run.

The only bad situation to come out of this would be if Tom destroys Jones, then goes on to have a catastrophic losing streak or something. Similar to Dominick Reyes.

 

[LEWIS540]

Yeah, should avoid the big fights lest we don’t get the results we want.

 

[Mike]

It's always better to have the big fights over not having them. Whoever loses will be ok. Everyone wants to know. It's sad to never see what would happen.

 

[Pompey Junglist]

I say neither man should be afraid of the loss, one can say it came too late in his career, the other too early.

If Tom lost I don't think it would lessen his chances of dominating the division for a while afterwards. Provided it wasn't a completely eviscerating humiliation a la Gane, he'd likely learn much from the experience. After all, how much has he learned from sparking out land whales in a matter of seconds over the past few years? Losing to JBJ in a competitive fight could give him insights that take his fight game to the next level.

But ultimately this is all pointless conjecture. Jones is in no mood to take any risks at this stage of his career, he could scarcely have made this any clearer. One man wants this fight, the other man doesn't. Because it's a really tough fight.

 

[ClosetVitorFan]

Nah. If Jon goes down as the greatest fighter ever or one of, him squashing Tom doesn't affect him or the UFC going forward. Much in the same way that Vitali Klitschko losing to Lennox Lewis didn't affect him.

Similar if Aspinall KOs Jones. If Tom goes on to break the HW defense record and be known as the greatest HW of all time then Jon moving up and losing to him in only his 3rd HW fight, after being a career 205er doesn't really matter in the long run.

The only bad situation to come out of this would be if Tom destroys Jones, then goes on to have a catastrophic losing streak or something. Similar to Dominick Reyes.

This is exactly what I was thinking. Tom's fights are so fucking short we don't really know much about him when he's being seriously challenged.

I can totally see this happening.

 

[ClosetVitorFan]

It's always better to have the big fights over not having them. Whoever loses will be ok. Everyone wants to know. It's sad to never see what would happen.

This is true. I think Jones is currently negotiating and plans to fight Aspinall but he wants to get paid Francis Ngannou money. I believe Francis got paid close to 30 million for his last 3 fights. 2 in boxing vs 2 of boxings biggest draws and 1 in PFL against a journeyman. If UFC isn't willing to pay Jones 10 or 15 million to fight Aspinall Jones isn't gonna do it. UFC has to open the checkbook to make this happen. They can afford it and Jon is on his way out.

 

[OldBoy91]

This is exactly what I was thinking. Tom's fights are so fucking short we don't really know much about him when he's being seriously challenged.

I can totally see this happening.

I can't. Tom has destroyed every elite fighter in the division except Gane. And he's made it look easy.

It isn't like he's been landing "flukey" shots in 50/50 fights. He is consistently leveling top level fighters with the first clean punch he lands.

He completely outclassed Volkov who is one of the most skilled fighters in the division. Volkov only tends to lose when somebody is a specialist in one area, i.e. having a close kickboxing loss to Gane or being outwrestled by Blaydes, or being one shotted by Lewis in a fight he was dominating.

Aspinall beat him everywhere and made it look easy like nobody else before or since. He beat him up standing, took him down, beat him up on the ground and split him open. Let him back up, beat him up standing some more. Avoided all of Volkov's return fire and hit one of the smoothest slip to takedown transitions I've ever seen, then finished him with a super low percentage submission. And Volkov is a legit black belt on the ground.

He is not untested, he is doing this to the best the division has to offer. It's just that his offense is so overwhelming nobody can get out of the 1st round.

Besides Gane and Jones all that's left for him is rematches. I don't see any ody giving him he'll in a rematch when they were completely out of their depth the previous go around.

In comparison Reyes only had 2 ranked wins prior to fighting Jones. And both were close decision victories. Against OSP and Oezdemir. The Volka fight in particular could have easily gone the other way. The he KOed Chris Weidman who was 1-4 in his last 5 and in his LHW debut. Then he fought Jones and then went on his big losing streak, where he got beat up and then finished over and over.

Tom's division is HW so anybody can land a KO punch at any time, but being destroyed over and over like Reyes? I just don't see it.

 

[JBJ was here]

I can't. Tom has destroyed every elite fighter in the division except Gane. And he's made it look easy.

The only elite fighters currently in the division are Tom and Jon. Gane is a legit non-elite contender, and there's a big drop-off to rest of the division which tops out at wannabe gatekeeper.

 

[filthybliss]

UFC Fans will complain about everything. This fight should happen if Jones wants to relinquish his ducker status.

 

[AmonTobin]

Someone worrying that much about losing shouldn’t be a champion or trying to fight for a championship. This is the sport of fighting not the stock exchange. just fucking fight.

 

[HHJ]

Much in the same way that Vitali Klitschko losing to Lennox Lewis didn't affect him.

That's because he lost via cut a fight he was winning. Context does matter.

 

[Neck&Neck]

This is prize fighting, not tiddlywinks
They should bang hard, for our non PPV buying pleasure

 

[Fedorgasm]

It's always better to have the big fights over not having them. Whoever loses will be ok. Everyone wants to know. It's sad to never see what would happen.

Yeah all the big what-if fights leave the fans disappointed for years.

Sakuraba/Rickson still hurts. I really wanted to see that one.

 

[Wreckless]

Nobody cares if Tom loses to the GOAT

Plus, Aspinal isn't some big star. He's not bringing big business for the UFC. Him losing changes nothing.

 

[OldBoy91]

That's because he lost via cut a fight he was winning. Context does matter.

Disagree. I think Lennox was landing the better shots and the tide was turning long before the stoppage. Don't care what the scorecards said.

Exactly why Vitali looked like he'd walked through a woodchipper and Lennox didn't have a mark on him.

If I agreed with you I wouldn't have brought it up as an example fight.

 

[bartleby929]

they will squeeze every dime they can out of Jon and then feed him to Poatan after he's vulnerable

 

[NextGen]

Tom Aspinall: "All I ask is, if he's the pound-for-pound GOAT, keep the same energy when I beat him. Dana White saying he’s the GOAT and the P4P no. 1. If I fight Jon Jones and beat him, he still has to be the P4P no. 1 – you can’t start saying he’s old then.”

 

[Subline]

Are you really an MMA fan if you think like this

 

[Psychojoe86]

Tbh it’s bad for Tom’s career if he fights jones lol.

I mean, Tom would beat jones easily, yes, but then Tom would be promoted to official champ with 0 defenses.

If jones retires, Tom is promoted to champ with 1 defense. He should try to view it as a win-win, so long as the ufc doesn’t make the interim disappear… lol