Media In the shadow of Jon Jones, Tom Aspinall must dominate Cyril Gane to establish legitimacy

[koa pomaikai]

UFC champion Tom Aspinall is in a 'tough spot' vs. Ciryl Gane, says Din Thomas

Din Thomas thinks there's a massive amount of pressure on UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.

mmajunkie.usatoday.com

MMA analyst argues that Aspinall is in a tough spot in the shadow of Jon Jones that anything less than a dominating first round of Cyril Gane leaves Aspinall in a tough spot.

Aspinall has spent the better part of a year trying to prove himself as a worthy challenger for Jon Jones. Aspinall’s record leaves a lot to be desired as he’s faced mostly unknowns and has no big name wins.

His first title defense against Cyril Gane is arguably the biggest name to date that he’s faced, and this is a man that Jon Jones dispatched in round 1 without taking any damage.

Anything short of a dominant win leaves Aspinall in the shadow of Jon Jones. And godforbid if Aspinall loses, it would leave him forever in the shadow of Jones.

Aspinall is stuck between a rock and a hard place. He’s left to fill the GIANT shoes that Jon Jones left behind.

If Aspinall dispatches Gane in impression fashion, he needs to take the mic and call out Jones for July 2026 for the Trump card.

Edit: Post Gane vs Aspinall…

Well it wasn’t impressive and it was probably one of the biggest cluster fk endings ever.

And now Pereira and Jones are targeting the white house. Aspinall blew his one chance for a WH main event against JBJ.

And now he’s caught further in the shadow of JBJ…

 

[Kung Fu Kowboy]

He's already the Reigning Defend Undisputed Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion of the World

 

[Siver!]

I'm gonna be surprised if it goes past 3:30.

If it lasts longer than 210 seconds, I'll be amazed.

Tom taps this Gane easily, and I rate Gane. This isn't me shitting on Gane at all. Note that only Volkov has lasted longer than that recently, and only marginally so.

 

[GluttonforPunishment]

Tom's gonna whoop Ganes ass. Just not faster than Jones.

 

[koa pomaikai]

I'm gonna be surprised if it goes past 3:30.

If it lasts longer than 210 seconds, I'll be amazed.

Tom taps this Gane easily, and I rate Gane. This isn't me shitting on Gane at all. Note that only Volkov has lasted longer than that, and only marginally so.

I don’t know Aspinall seems very reckless. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets his chin checked on a rushed entry.

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

Gane should win for the lolz

 

[Captain Herb]

He doesn't need to dominate but he does need to win.

 

[koa pomaikai]

Gane should win for the lolz

Imagine we find out Aspinall is a gas bag because this fight goes past round 1-2.

 

[koa pomaikai]

He doesn't need to dominate but he does need to win.

If it goes 5 rounds somehow, and he wins via 48-47. He’s gonna be living in Jones’s shadow for a while.

 

[Gamer007]

Awesome fight, and it's true that Aspinall is kind of in a lose/lose situation.

But this is what you get when you take the bait and play into the media/fan perspective, now you have to defend your prior statements and deal with the pressure of proving all of these fans correct.

 

[Tweak896]

Aspinall isn't as good of a wrestler and who knows about submissions. It's much harder to stand with Gane. I think even if he has a war with Gane, it doesn't affect his legitimacy, he has a different style than Jones. Gane would've been subbed by everyone if he was really that easy to submit.

 

[AndrewGolota48]

Aspinall fans are in for a rude awakening when this fight happens. Can't wait to see the panic when the takedowns don't lead to fucking shit, if they even happen. Then Tom gets to realize that some heavyweights also move well and actually hit back.

This will be the striking equivalent of the Stuart Austin fight where Tom got to realize that some heavyweights (well, LHW in Austin's case) are actually competent grapplers. Clueless fans think Austin pulled a heel hook out of nowhere but if you actually watch the fight you see that Tom got motherfucking bitched around the cage the majority of the fight.

 

[TOMFDJYEDH]

Gane gets absolutely wrecked wherever the fight goes. I actually hope he drags it out a bit longer than usual.

 

[TOMFDJYEDH]

Aspinall fans are in for a rude awakening when this fight happens. Can't wait to see the panic when the takedowns don't lead to fucking shit, if they even happen. Then Tom gets to realize that some heavyweights also move well and actually hit back.

This will be the striking equivalent of the Stuart Austin fight where Tom got to realize that some heavyweights (well, LHW in Austin's case) are actually competent grapplers. Clueless fans think Austin pulled a heel hook out of nowhere but if you actually watch the fight you see that Tom got motherfucking bitched around the cage the majority of the fight.

You didn't just use a fight from a decade ago right at the start of his career as some kind of meaningful evidence did you?. Oh dear, Tom really made the duck and his fans lose their minds. A sad sight.

 

[Cowboy Kurt Angle]

Not really, Jones fans shat on Ngao

Aspinall fans are in for a rude awakening when this fight happens. Can't wait to see the panic when the takedowns don't lead to fucking shit, if they even happen. Then Tom gets to realize that some heavyweights also move well and actually hit back.

This will be the striking equivalent of the Stuart Austin fight where Tom got to realize that some heavyweights (well, LHW in Austin's case) are actually competent grapplers. Clueless fans think Austin pulled a heel hook out of nowhere but if you actually watch the fight you see that Tom got motherfucking bitched around the cage the majority of the fight.

You are talking about Gane like he is prime Cro Cop, I have watched this dude get taken down by Francis with no ACLs, hand out of prime Jon Jones a win in about a minute, because Ciryl said he didn’t take MMA seriously until after that fight, and play FIFA in training camp,

and watched “New and improved Gane get fucking bitched around for an entire round on the ground just holding Volkovs wrist, not to mention recent footage of Imavov a fucking MW taking Gane down

Not to mention Gane getting knocked down by Tai Tuivasa who’s training involves eating Taco Bell for the fight camp

And get rocked and controlled on the ground as well as win a robbery against Volkov who 50-45ed 3 years ago

 

[mkess101]

You didn't just use a fight from a decade ago right at the start of his career as some kind of meaningful evidence did you?. Oh dear, Tom really made the duck and his fans lose their minds. A sad sight.

Dude, what are you talking about? @AndrewGolota48 is right. He's totally spot on to hyper focus on a fight from a decade ago when Aspinall was 22 in his 4th pro fight. It means everything and should be the only fight ever talked about like Golota does.

 

[Captain Herb]

If it goes 5 rounds somehow, and he wins via 48-47. He’s gonna be living in Jones’s shadow for a while.

Right, like Jones is living in the shadow of Zhang Mingyang and many other fighters who beat a common opponent much faster than Jones. The only way Tom comes out looking diminished is if he loses.

 

[dipstickjimmy]

UFC champion Tom Aspinall is in a 'tough spot' vs. Ciryl Gane, says Din Thomas

Din Thomas thinks there's a massive amount of pressure on UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.

mmajunkie.usatoday.com

MMA analyst argues that Aspinall is in a tough spot in the shadow of Jon Jones that anything less than a dominating first round of Cyril Gane leaves Aspinall in a tough spot.

Aspinall has spent the better part of a year trying to prove himself as a worthy challenger for Jon Jones. Aspinall’s record leaves a lot to be desired as he’s faced mostly unknowns and has no big name wins.

His first title defense against Cyril Gane is arguably the biggest name to date that he’s faced, and this is a man that Jon Jones dispatched in round 1 without taking any damage.

Anything short of a dominant win leaves Aspinall in the shadow of Jon Jones. And godforbid if Aspinall loses, it would leave him forever in the shadow of Jones.

Aspinall is stuck between a rock and a hard place. He’s left to fill the GIANT shoes that Jon Jones left behind.

If Aspinall dispatches Gane in impression fashion, he needs to take the mic and call out Jones for July 2026 for the Trump card.

The shadow of Jon Jones? Jon is 2-0 as a HW. Aspinall already has a vastly greater Legacy as a HW champion. He even has the same record as Jon in title fights and same number of defenses.

Is Jon a bigger star? I guess he is. Does he have a greater MMA career? Yes. As a HW does he have a greater Legacy? Fuck no.

 

[MrBlackheart]

What dumb logic. Ryan Spann easily KOed Dominic Reyes while Jon Jones needed miracle score cards to win. Does that mean Spann is better than Jones?

Aspinall doesn’t need to do shit but win.

 

[koa pomaikai]

What dumb logic. Ryan Spann easily KOed Dominic Reyes while Jon Jones needed miracle score cards to win. Does that mean Spann is better than Jones?

Aspinall doesn’t need to do shit but win.

Ryan Spann didn’t retire as the undisputed champion leaving an asterisk that Jon Jones needed to fill by beating Reyes.

Jon Jones also didn’t spent a year trying to prove he’s worthy of fighting Spann.

Jon Jones doesn’t live in the shadow of Spann, while Aspinall lives in his shadow.