Tom Aspinall is afraid af too. He said "I'm not like some guys in mma that hide their fears. If I'm fighting JJ, knowing one of us I likely to be separated from our consciousness and there will be millions of ppl watching, then there will be memes... That's something that will follow me for the rest of my life. When I fight in closed spaces with few ppl watching, I don't care that much because if I get my ass kicked, not many ppl will know. But there is no way someone who's about to fight the best of all times wouldn't feel scared as hell when looking at that person. It's just something very scary and I get more and more scared each fight. "
Tbh I don't blame Tom. I like him. He's someone who's there because he worked hard. When he won bonus for fight of the night, we could see how happy he was to the point he was crying. I don't think he wanted to fight JJ in the sense of "I need to act as if I'm hunting him and he's afraid!!" ... That's likely how he was instructed, but he knows it's not the case, and that if he ends up losing , it'll make him look like a joke for many fans, which is terrible. That's why when the therapiste asked "what can you do to fight JJ, to make JJ fight you", Tom quickly answered "I can't do anything! Like, I can't do anything. It's JJ's choice, he doesn't need to fight me. Like, whenever he wants, wherever he wants, I'll fight him. But I can't do anything. I think money is holding it up, in his part. I think that's it. I think it's because money. On his part! But I don't need this fight, I've said that he has fought many times already and he doesn't need to fight me. "
Like.... Its Not easy for him in this social media environment to be made fun of. I think he ideally wanted JJ to vacate the belt some could have the belt. I don't think he really thinks deep down that he will beat JJ, I think he sees JJ as likely to win. That's my opinion. And JJ said he was up to fight in IFW vs Tom. He signed the deal for IFW. It does not, at all, match what Tom is saying about JJ holding up the fight. That's what the media says. Jon Jones is having fun, is laughing and all because imo, he thinks he can beat Tom and he's in a so high level as a fighter that he doesn't feel insecure to be mocking Tom, and just wants to focus on what matter instead, who wins .... For someone with such an ego as JJ, he would not put himself in a situation he is seen as a duck if he weren't to fight that same guy. In which case, the fact he put himself in this situation, means he thinks he can absolutely beat Tom. Tbh, I don't want to see Tom be made fun of if Tom loses, as much as if JJ loses, it's inevitable he'd be made fun of. But Tom... Idk, he has a lot of talent, is definitely elite, but ppl act like he is so good that even fighting a monster like JJ who's the best ever, is easy for Tom to the point it's be surprising if JJ lasted more than 1 round. That puts such a pressure on Tom, specially when it's against Jon Jones. I mean, Jon Jones....
I just wish that whoever loses, ppl treat them with respect: