Media Tom Aspinall: "I RETIRED Jon Jones W/O Even Fighting Him" - "Holding Belt Hostage"

[Robbocop]

A couple of examples of UFC fighters being stripped for inactivity:

• Frank Mir in 2005 at HW stripped of HW title after 14 months of inactivity
• Mcgregor in 2016 stripped of FW title after about 11 months, but had been active in LW and WW
• Mcgregor again stripped in 2018 of LW title, after about 17 months inactivity from the UFC

Also not exactly the same but worthy of comparison, Jiri Prochazka "vacated" his LHW title in November 2022, upon suffering a shoulder injury, about 6.5 months after winning the belt in May 2022.

At present, Jon Jones is at about 17.5 months of inactivity since his last fight in March 2023, and his last fight before that was in February 2020.

 

[Hdfi]

He's right, and imo it doesn't make sense to continue sacrificing Aspinall's career to protect Jones, who will retire soon (in November?).

 

[mjfan23]

Tommy is right

 

[Espresso]

View attachment 1058912
View attachment 1058913


I'm sure Jon shook AF rn

What is this? Please explain

 

[PaddyO'malley]

What is this? Please explain

Aspinall's right hand is as devastating as a woman's slap thrown at 60% according to recent studies*

*Possibly even 90% under the right conditions

 

[Clark Rogers]

I like Tom but I think he's buying his own hype a little here.

Jones has been talking about Stipe and retirement since the Gane fight, when Tom was still nursing his blown knee. I seriously doubt (at the time) that British kid with the blown knee was much of a thought.

 

[OldBoy91]

I like Tom but I think he's buying his own hype a little here.

Not hype at this point. He's finished 5 of the current top 10 at HW in a combined time of 9 minutes. Has an interim title.

Hes exactly right. His resume does not compare to Jones overall, but at HW, he is THE guy and he's the one that has proven it.

 

[jitzmonkey]

He's picking a fight; good!

 

[Carrotman23]

Aspinall talking that shit finally with the cheeto fingers comments!


21st Century British Fedor gonna smoke everyone

 

[Prince Nephilim]

So fucking stupid. No he didn’t “beat” an already retiring Jones because Jones didn’t stop his retirement for him.

That’s the most pussified cope out I’ve ever heard. Like he’s just trying to desperately attach his legacy to Jones even through some half wit bad publicity.

 

[ThaiSexPills]

The PPV buys for UFC 304 must've been awful, Tom is getting desperate now.


Tom comes off as a cool and humble guy, but I fear he's slowly descending down that Reyes path. Too many people are kissing his ass and building his ego, he needs to keep working if he wants to have some staying power in this sport.

He’s actively defending an interim belt while Jones hasn’t fought in a year and holds a belt for some reason while absolutely refusing to defend it against any contenders. He wanted nothing to do with Pavlovich or Blaydes so Tom beat knocked them both out for him now he’s ducking Tom.

You can’t bash Tom. There’s no reasonable argument for bashing him. Stipe’s last fight was a KO loss 3 years ago and he’s 42. Jones has fought once in the last 3.5 years. Absolutely anybody else without their meat in dana’s mouth would have been stripped. This is peak insanity.

There is no valid reason for Jones not being stripped and delaying the division even more for a BS title fight neither guy deserve is the among the biggest bullshit in UFC history or close. Tom is far from the only one calling out this mockery of the HW division.

 

[stav]

Let's not pretend that Jones didn't take advantage of match-ups against past-their-prime middleweights who came up to LHW.

Jones is a world-class talent, no doubt, but he took out quite a few big-name guys who were undersized and on their way out.

So, ya know, what goes around comes around.

JJ might be ducking and cherry-picking opponents now, but saying he took advantage of underweight LHWs is not true.

​

Matysushenko, Rampage, Gus, Glover, Reyes, Vera and Cormier are all big LHWs.
Let's not forget Glover even went on to win the LHW title and Cormier is arguably the 2nd GOAT at LHW and went on to win the HW title.

We can agree he is cherry-picking at HW and ducking Tom, but that has no bearing on his performance in his prime at LHW.

 

[JBJisGOAT14]

He has to go in on Jones to needle his ego.

Will this fight ever happen?

Oh fuck off Tom, you lost to this tomato can that’s 12-10 and a guy named Stuart Austin…GOAT jones has more title defenses than you do fucking wins. Pipe down!

 

[OldBoy91]

Oh fuck off Tom, you lost to this tomato can that’s 12-10….GOAT jones has more title defenses than you do fucking wins. Pipe down!

That's the guy he was DQed against for throwing perfectly legal elbows where the organisation said they were 12-6 and then "lost" the footage afterwards.

It's less legit than Jones's loss to Hammill.

Also you might wanna do a Billy Maddison and go back to school there bud. Jonny boy has 11 defenses, Aspinall has 15 wins. That ain't more.

 

[JBJisGOAT14]

That's the guy he was DQed against for throwing perfectly legal elbows where the organisation said they were 12-6 and then "lost" the footage afterwards.

It's less legit than Jones's loss to Hammill.

Also you might wanna do a Billy Maddison and go back to school there bud. Jonny boy has 11 defenses, Aspinall has 15 wins. That ain't more.

Meh it was close. Tom still lost to Stuart Austin and Blaydes. Jones beat a whose who of MMA. Levels boy!

 

[GrantB13]

You're a 260-pound HW in his prime. Jones is a career LHW with one HW fight who's looked out of his prime for the last 6 years or so (maybe the Gane fight was an exception, but it was too short to judge how Jones would do in a tough HW fight).

I know people hate Jones but this is a weak flex.

He was ready for heavyweight or he wasn't. He wrestled down a heavyweight and subbed him with ease. How much more prep time does he need after 3 years dedication?

 

[SalvadorAllende]

I love how Aspinall is bullying Jones.

 

[Barteh]

You're a 260-pound HW in his prime. Jones is a career LHW with one HW fight who's looked out of his prime for the last 6 years or so (maybe the Gane fight was an exception, but it was too short to judge how Jones would do in a tough HW fight).

I know people hate Jones but this is a weak flex.

Jon's fake belt that he refuses to defend is a weak flex.

 

[podsox]

It’s a great line and one he should keep saying.

 

[Gladiator24]

He’s like an obsessive girlfriend, desperately begging Jon for a fight