The Aspinal vs Pereira idea is genius actually

[Intermission]

Jones basically hopes Alex might beat Tom so he doesnt have to fight him.

There are far inferior fighters to Pereira who gave
prime Jones hell.

 

[cshireman4]

Didn't Jones want the fight against Alex at heavyweight?

I rest my case.

 

[BlackStrap]

Ciryl is the only omission. He beat every other "who" that was actively fighting at HW.


Well that's wrong for multiple reasons. He only wants his next fight to be for the undisputed belt, which he is entitled to as the interim champ. That could be with Jones, or it could be without him. That's not holding out only for Jones and isn't being a diva.


It increases his negotiating leverage, because the name will only be bigger and considered more dangerous coming out of it, so Jones can up his asking price or walk.


This is only looking at things from the perspective of Jones, who is leaving. The products that are staying, and therefore should take the least amount of damage are Aspinall and Pereira, so forcing more fights on both risks those prospects. You're even already talking about the potential losers dismissively. Also, some added extra nut riding with salty jones is exciting, or whatever kind of media-appealing shit that is.


You're forgetting to calculate in Pereira or Aspinall getting fights in between Jones fighting one of them. That would have to be added into the equation. And the timeline is only long because you're just freely giving the "champ" more time to sit out. To you, it's just a given that Jones will not be interested in fighting for months and months AND excusing it as ok.


For Jon, which is clearly the only perspective you have.

I was thinking genius for the UFC, but fair on a lot of the points.

I am not savvy enough to use the quotes, but I disagree on the "only" omissions.

I am looking at big picture. HW is looking meh (as it usually does). Stipe and Ngannou are two names I would have liked to see Aspinall test himself with. Neither omission is his fault, but when I look at the list of folks he's beat "meh", and Cyril is a huge omission. He isn't even goat in his class.

I agree with your point about Aspinall being entitled to the belt, so nothing there. That said, if he was a BMF type character, he would not be sitting on his hands. The situation being what it is, I want him to have accepted Cyril's call out.

It increases it in some ways, but Jones won't be able to say "I want this fight and not the other... they are not elite enough".

Alex is not a prospect. Tom is a prospect. That's the risk game. If he beats Pereira and then Jones... Phhffffttt.. Tom's the fucking Man. If he looses, no harm. Still likely HW champ without Jones or Perreira.

Alex is the fucking man. He has nothing to loose by fighting any of those guys.

To me the only loosing fight is Jones v Aspinall, if Aspinall is not the man. A big if.

I am not giving the champ more time... UFC will. He is old and he takes time. I do not like it, but that's the reality of it. If you read carefully, my comment was VERY prejudicial to Jones.

That said, I do not think the gulf between our views is so great. You may disagree strongly with what I said, but I agree with most of what you said.

 

[BlackStrap]

Great post

I still don't know if I would call it genius, but you make a lot of sense.

But this reasoning takes advantage of Pereira's willingness to fight anyone and doesn't address the damage a possible embarrassing loss would cause for him. And Pereira would likely be a huge underdog.

I feel like Pereira can't loose by taking an Aspinall fight. If he wins against Alex he's a fucking god. If he looses, it is against a heavyweight who may be an all time great. So Aspinall is above Alex in HW, but not in Alex's class(es)

I actually think Alex v Jones is more risky for Alex, because Jones is a LHW at the end of the day. Alex would perennially be looked at as Jon's son.

I agree with what you said though, a lot rests on Alex's heart, which is part of his legend. Alex's record reflects that, and in this regard his status is unblemished (in my eyes).

 

[icemun]

Please explain how it is genius.

it builds hype between Apiral and Poatan for a Jones fight

Poatan is a star at his point, Tom a relative unknown

Whoever wins, earns a superfight with the GOAT.

Makes business sense.

 

[Intermission]

I'll bet you guys Alex starches Aspinall and then Jones suffocates Alex.

It will be anti climatic. Styles make fights.

Then again. Alex has a vulnerable chin....

 

[JohnMandick]

 

[Dave Poodle]

Alex is freakishly strong

He has good power in his shots but grappling is the issue against Jon or Tom. He's been taken down by Izzy and Jan. He'll be taken down quite easily by either and won't have much defense against either. They're both horrible style match ups for him.

 

[humdizzle]

its possible alex could catch him early

but aspinals wrestling and size would be too much.

its a great fight for alex as he has nothing to lose. but stupid for aspinall to defend his belt 2x when jon has been healthy

 

[DoubleTrouble]

you mean ducking an interim champ to fight a 2 division world champ and much more bigger payday

the GOAT vs the 2 division world champs sounds bigger
than the interim champ vs the 2 division world champ

Yeah a heavyweight vs a former Middleweight....sounds really good.

Much better than a fake champion vs the guy who has starched 6 top 10'ers at Heavyweight and has a legit claim to being the best HW on the planet.

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

I will.

Jones is on his way out.

He may only have one fight left in him and is trying to play it as safely as he can. A fight with Pereira is safer because, as high risk as Pereira is, he is a bona-fide legend (multi-disciplilne, multi-weight champion) and is an arguably easier loss to swallow.

For all the nut swallowing here, Aspinall is a prospect. He is murdering fools (as of late), but has not even fought the who's who in his own weight class (Cyril is a serious omission). There is a world where he ends up being a world beater, in which case Jones' loss to him would be less tarnshiing. There is also a world where he ends up being a flash in the pan, in which case Jones' loss ages horribly.

So, Jones will only fight Aspinall for $$$.

Jones is also old in fight years. He takes time to ready his body (with physio and likely secret juice). So that means putting one or two marquee fighters on ice for a long time in anticipation of a fight.

Instead, put Aspinall against Perreira. Perreira will fight anyone. Aspinall (who is also being a diva by only wanting ot fight Jones) will fight Perreira, who is a proxy for Jones, and a legends eliminator. Take advantage of all the hype of the Jones fight without actually holding a Jones fight, and take away Jones' negotiating leverage.

If Perreira wins then good: Jones wanted to fight him, we don't care about the Aspinall fight, and his bona fides are next level. Fight of the fucking century. TBH, this is the best look. It is the lhw goats who beaheaded hw monsters batteling it out in a super fight. This is the best possible outcome.

If Aspinall wins then good: Jones can no longer deny his bona fides, and any resistence will reasonably be taken to be ducking. Huge drama fight due to prior beef, and maybe biggest heavyweight fight. No matter the outcome, we will see a salty fucking Jones, which is an exciting Jones.

IMO, Aspinall v Pereira -> winner v Jones is a better two fight option than Jones v Aspinall/Pereira -> the winner of that fight against Aspinall/Pereira. Also the timeline is way tighter.

So yeah, pretty genius.

I can see the angle somewhat, but at the same time, say Tom beats Alex, which is highly likely, what does it do for their respective stock? I dont think Tom would get much credit for beating a 37 year old kickboxer who was fighting at 185 last year, meanwhile you have basically sacrificed the guy who has been the UFCs MVP for the last few years by putting him in what always seemed on paper like a mismatch in a higher weight class.

I have to totally disagree about Tom acting like a diva btw. He has every right to call out the champion of his division because he has solidified himself beyond doubt as the top challenger, to an extent that most even view him as the real champion. Him taking fights other than Jon is him treading water and taking needless risks that dont even have that high of a reward. The fact he already defended an INTERIM belt against a more credible challenger than the official champ did is the furthest thing from diva behaviour.

 

[Intermission]

I think Jon believes he has one more fight left in him. That shoulder injury 8 months before the Stipe fight looked bad.

We have been arguing on this forum for a while about who he should fight next.

But uncle Dana to the rescue.

Jon Jones Gives Green Light to Alex Pereira vs. Tom Aspinall Fight in Honest Verdict

Eager to delay title defense, Jon Jones gives honest verdict on a potential fight between Alex Pereira vs. Tom Aspinall.

www.essentiallysports.com

Yeah, nobody could have thought of that.

 

[KillerIsBack V2]

I'll bet you guys Alex starches Aspinall and then Jones suffocates Alex.

It will be anti climatic. Styles make fights.

Then again. Alex has a vulnerable chin....

Unless Tom dips his hands in Petrol (it’s his new schtick).

Then Petrol Tom will join Sea level Cain and motivated pen in the mma meme HOF.

 

[BlackStrap]

I can see the angle somewhat, but at the same time, say Tom beats Alex, which is highly likely, what does it do for their respective stock? I dont think Tom would get much credit for beating a 37 year old kickboxer who was fighting at 185 last year, meanwhile you have basically sacrificed the guy who has been the UFCs MVP for the last few years by putting him in what always seemed on paper like a mismatch in a higher weight class.

I have to totally disagree about Tom acting like a diva btw. He has every right to call out the champion of his division because he has solidified himself beyond doubt as the top challenger, to an extent that most even view him as the real champion. Him taking fights other than Jon is him treading water and taking needless risks that dont even have that high of a reward. The fact he already defended an INTERIM belt against a more credible challenger than the official champ did is the furthest thing from diva behaviour.

If Tom beats Alex I think he does what he is supposed to, and he notches a win over a world beater (Imo, Alex is there due to the inertia of his UFC run and his resume, only if you include kickboxing).

If Alex beats Tom, it adds to his legend. Definitely, much more for Tom to loose than to gain... but that is what makes legends, right? Part of what makes Alex's stock so high (in my estimation) is his willingness to fight anyone. Part of what is currently undermining Jones' stock is his trying to game the system to his advantage.

Imagine Jon Jones, with his resume, who also takes on ANY challenger at the drop of a hat? It would be godlike. So, the thing that makes Jones a duck, to a lesser extent makes Tom a diva.

To your point, Tom is right. He is being smart and he is "entitled" to do what he is doing, and I say the same to Jones. his age and stature grant him those liberties. Are they being divas... Yes, and Jones more than Tom.

Alex on the other hand is not waiting for anyone, he is not demanding anyone, he is fighting all. He is a warrior.

 

[TJH Exitium]

Anyone who thinks Aspinal vs Pereira is a "genius" idea (or even a remotely good idea) is an absolute fucking idiot

 

[Tweak896]

If Jones sits out and loses title then the Pereira fight is Tom's biggest name he can really fight. The only good HWs he has to fight is Gane or Almeida. I get Pereira might be a terrible HW, but he has cleared out LHW and it might be the first 3 division champ if he could catch Aspinall. When do UK fighters have top notch offensive wrestling? It's possible Anakalev has better wrestling than Aspinall.

 

[MisfitsBR]

Aspinall on his way again to have more title defenses than the actual champ lol