What effect will the Aspinall duck have on JBJ's legacy?

[ShadowRun]

This post hurt my brain.

Fragile brains usually get hurt easily.

 

[Big Tuppy Hole]

Honestly the 2nd half of his career is tarnished beyond repair.

 

[jeff7b9]

Yeah, I agree that behavior colors one's legacy. Especially when it comes to actual cheating, but in other ways too. What you are actually remembered for often revolves around the not so flattering. People like Barry Bonds and Lance Armstrong will always be remembered with an asterisk, as will Jones.

It's kind of like with Bill Clinton- he presided over one of the longest economic booms America has seen, but no one will ever remember him for anything but getting a hummer from an intern named Monica. Those kinds of things stick out despite considerable accomplishments later on.

Yup.

And not just that it is unflattering, but that this is how the story ENDS.

And he LONG SINCE used up whatever "benefit of the doubt" he may have had.

Accomplishments wise, he is the goat.

Human being wise.. he is a schmuck.

This is getting a LOT of media attention in an otherwise slow news era of MMA. It will be remembered, at least by fans of the sport. And the internet is forever, and the prime vessel of communication. His name will be mentioned and unless he beats Tom, the comments will be about ducking Aspinal.


I'd compare it to Prince Naseem. Dude won I think around 16 straight title fights, unreal KO highlight reel, showman all the way. EVERY time his name comes up, Antonio Barrera will be there, any video, any comment section, they are forever linked.

 

[BabyBlue_Bomber]

in 50 years, he will be remembered as St. Jon Jones the Merciful, because he allowed Aspinall to hold on to the heavyweight title for so long, even though he could have easily taken it from him whenever he wanted to…

 

[Megatronlee]

Man listen. It won’t change a thing. Tom may lose his next fight and retire.Jones been here for 20 years bruv.

 

[orca]

Personally i don't think Jones will ever fight Aspinall. I also think the way he's behaving is circumstantial evidence that he also ducked Ngannou, the whole 3 yr bulking process was just a duck as far as i'm concerned.

So now he has steroids, and soon he'll have a history of ducking his biggest challenges. To me thats enough to knock him off the GOAT perch.

you also believe about ufc africa and fighters pay?
jones was already in the HW division while nganou was the champ you can say nganou fled becausw of jones

and about tom its like jan at LHW sayinh jones ducked him lmfao

 

[Hdfi]

He'll never be considered a legit two-division champion.

 

[Skarsgard]

How many losses do you think Tom has by contrast

Three. He has one injury loss to Blaydes, a DQ, and an early submission loss to a heel hook.
The argument if other fights should have been counted as wins or losses is moot. They weren't.
I believe that injuries should be NC instead of TKOs. They aren't, so some fighters have losses that I believe shouldn't be there. I still have to acknowledge that they exist though.

 

[mkess101]

you also believe about ufc africa and fighters pay?
jones was already in the HW division while nganou was the champ you can say nganou fled becausw of jones

and about tom its like jan at LHW sayinh jones ducked him lmfaoView attachment 1087746

You keep posting that, but if there's no signed bout agreement from Jones that "offer" means nothing.

"Hey, here's what we will pay you in the pretend scenario where we get the other guy to sign a contract".

 

[Tweak896]

I feel like it will hurt as much as GSP not fighting Whittaker and any of the MWs after he won. Jones haters would forget overtime and switch to someone new to hate.

 

[Blastbeat]

I feel like it will hurt as much as GSP not fighting Whittaker and any of the MWs after he won. Jones haters would forget overtime and switch to someone new to hate.

GSP didnt drag out the title picture that long. he gave up the belt, what, like 40 days after winning it or something? the division kept moving after that.
Jones has had the HW title for 2+ years and has defended once. its a different scenario.

 

[Tweak896]

GSP didnt drag out the title picture that long. he gave up the belt, what, like 40 days after winning it or something? the division kept moving after that.
Jones has had the HW title for 2+ years and has defended once. its a different scenario.

I get that it sucks waiting, I'm pissed too. But on paper Jones is atleast going to negotiations for a title defense against Aspinall where GSP just jetted off immediately. If people hated GSP and loved Jones the narrative would be Jones just wants to get paid what he's worth and is actually serious about defending, where GSP was scared.

Personally, I don't think MW for GSP or HW for Jones matters when you are comparing these guys. They both wanted to leave on top and not go out with a loss, protect their legacies. Really their runs at WW or LHW are what matters, not at the tail end of career in late 30s.

 

[Lee Danger]

There is a lot to criticize with Jones but any objective observer can see that he has had a legendary career even if he never fights Aspinal.

yes, the only goat candidate that lost his belt via ped test failure, without even considering the "pulse" excuse and the event moved to another state in order to have him fight.

guys, it'll take olympic gold medal gymnastic to overlook those facts and it'll need alzheimer level of brain function to complete forget that he was also hw champ (because his hw run is a can of worms with cherry picked fights and a legendary duck).

 

[Luckyme]

He might take some heat right now for avoiding the fight, but in the long run, it won’t do much damage to his legacy. People tend to remember the big picture - an undefeated two-division champion - rather than the finer details.

The controversial decision against Reyes, PED issues, fighting an aging Stipe—all of that fades with time. What sticks are the names he’s beaten and his record.

Jones is too legacy-conscious to take unnecessary risk. I believe that's a major reason why he sat out for 3 years while Ngannou was champion, and I believe he’ll take the same approach by avoiding Aspinall.

 

[Lee Danger]

He might take some heat right now for avoiding the fight, but in the long run, it won’t do much damage to his legacy. People tend to remember the big picture - an undefeated two-division champion - rather than the finer details.

The controversial decision against Reyes, PED issues, fighting an aging Stipe—all of that fades with time. What sticks are the names he’s beaten and his record.

Jones is too legacy-conscious to take unnecessary risk. I believe that's a major reason why he sat out for 3 years while Ngannou was champion, and I believe he’ll take the same approach by avoiding Aspinall.

People still remember how Marciano beat an out of retirement Louis, lol.

 

[BangBang]

Fuck all. He is the GOAT GOAT! Like TIGHT! TIGHT!

 

[Ginja_Ninja]

I would say LHW GOAT, HW JOKE

I would give Jones moving up to HW the same amount of credit as GSP's MW title. The meaningless defense means nothing.
If he does retire without taking the fight, I'd give GSP a little more credit for getting out quick and not creating a long hold up.

 

[markg171]

GSP didnt drag out the title picture that long. he gave up the belt, what, like 40 days after winning it or something? the division kept moving after that.
Jones has had the HW title for 2+ years and has defended once. its a different scenario.

It's actually a different scenario because Jones said he would defend against Stipe and then actually did.

GSP said he would defend against Whittaker and instead fucked off.

 

[Mike]

Not much I don't think. The Jones super fans will always say he's goat. You can't reason with them. The majority that don't have him as goat because just look at all the shit he's done, well nothing much changes for us either.

 

[Meathead Jock]

I don't think it does a lot long term. The way he went about it is a blemish for sure. His heavyweight title is kind of like GSP beating Bisping for the Middleweight.

Doesn't really do anything for his legacy. GSP retired with challenges still on the table. Jon did the same. But GSP didn't let a year go by letting the narrative be that he wants to fight but not the rightful number 1 contender to damage his rep.

Jones will still be a Mt Rushmore guy, but he will be one with an awkward ending to his career showing such fear of someone despite not being that old himself yet by heavyweight standards.

I think a bit less of him when I think of how DC gave him such battles despite old age and Jones needing to fail drug test to beat DC. Jones is still top 5 but his aura of invincibility feels more manufactured than it did when he was younger.