Who do you see as the real champ?

[Dyson350]

Huge if true, this could change everything

 

[BigTruck]

Why can't everybody just get a trophy?

 

[The Bloody Nine]

Thread worthy stuff. Definitely couldn't have gone in one of the existing ones.

 

[JKS]

You gotta go by who is technically champ and that is Jones. He won the vacant belt this year so he's the champ.

 

[2004 account]

This thread is really going places

 

[deadshot138]

Spinal also did not beat a champion to get the belt.

 

[Steve Fox]

I guess we have to look into it.

 

[blaseblase]

Spinal also did not beat a champion to get the belt.

Neither did Jones. But out of the two, Aspinall is the one willing to face all contenders while Jones is planning his exit from the sport.

 

[Leinster Rugby]

Him or Frank have more claim to that label than Jones

 

[HHJ]

Jon has more wins in UFC title fights, than Tom has wins.

Its irrelevant to the HW div.

 

[TempleoftheDog]

This lineal shit needs to end. Why does nobody talk about 125 lineal champ Cejudo. Conor at 145. Khabib at 155. GSP at 170, and 185. Jones at 205. Amanda at 135, and 145.

If you clowns are going to go on about Ngannou. Then do it for every division where the “real champ” is NOT the person with the belt right now.

It’s the lamest thing ever. The person with the belt now is the champion. But 100% Jones is ducking the number 1 contender. If the UFC didn’t control the rankings. Stipe would not even be ranked anymore.

But knock off this Ngannou bullshit. It’s the lamest thing ever. Or start calling anybody holding the belts now that aren’t the “lineal champs” fake champs, or whatever else you are calling Jones.

He’s a lowlife cheater. But he is the HW champion. Because the UFC wants him as the HW champion.

 

[AstralPanda]

Tommy Aspinall is the champ.

He is the guy who has beaten 4 of the current top 10 at HW. He is the guy who will fight anybody in the weightclass going forward.

Jones sought out the easiest big name in the division for him to beat after the actual champ took himself out of the game, then cherry picked his 1st and almost certainly only defense against a 41 year old Stipe who last won 3 years ago, and was brutally knocked out in his last fight, which was itself over 2 years ago.

By the time they actually do fight Stipe will be 42 and his last win will have been 4 years prior.

Aspinall is more than happy to fight Jones for all the marbles, to see who is the real champ and the best HW in the UFC, Jones will not fight Aspinall, or anybody except Stipe for that matter.

No. He sought out Ngannou, the champ. He spent 2 years gaining weight to fight for the HW belt. Was booked to fight for the HW belt on the march 2023 card back In December.

Then Ngannou never signed.

But, every indication is that Jones had already come to an agreement with the UFC long before Frank left.

Anyone saying otherwise is just deluding themselves.

Ngannou is the only reason that fight never happened and him / his team even admitted they could've had the fight if they wanted.

It has nothing to do with anything but name value / money.

He wanted Frank and was the first to call him out to begin with because It was a massive fight that commanded a substantial payday.

Absent that, there's only one big fight left In terms of numbers. Stipe.

Tom would be a great fight for the hardcore fans, I'd like to see it. But nobody knows who he is.

Which means Jones would cut his payday in half, for what is effectively his final UFC fight just to fight him.

 

[Elvis.]

If they asked them to fight Aspinall would say yes and Jones would say he’s waiting for Stipe , I think , I’ve been wrong before

 

[Billthebutcher]

HW-Francis, Stipe
HW Interim-Jon, Tom

 

[AstralPanda]

Never seen as many delusional fans as with this Jones thing.

Chael, Dana, Ariel, the media all said Jones was back mid summer 2022.

Those same sources were also very vocal that Ngannou was still deep in negotiations.

There was talk of booking Jones vs Stipe In december 2022.

But there's this narrative that Jones only decided to come back when he had an easier opponent.

Which is horse shit. Jones was already back long before Ngannou left.

when he left officially, they went with plan B. Which was Gane. It had nothing to do with Jones, everything to do with Ngannou not signing.

Anyone who has a different opinion than this is delusional.


Jones fighting for the HW title was always the plan. The only reason he moved to HW to begin with was for a payday. He's said as much himself for years. They'd only pay him those numbers with him fighting for the belt. Who held the belt? Ngannou. Who was the one Jones called out back in 2021? Ngannou. Who was the one he clowned after the Gane fight? Ngannou

This stuff is all clear cut. But the fans, engulfed In their raw hatred of the man, their first thought is that Jones ducked and finally came back after Ngannou left.

 

[blaseblase]

No. He sought out Ngannou, the champ. He spent 2 years gaining weight to fight for the HW belt. Was booked to fight for the HW belt on the march 2023 card back In December.

Then Ngannou never signed.

But, every indication is that Jones had already come to an agreement with the UFC long before Frank left.

Anyone saying otherwise is just deluding themselves.

Ngannou is the only reason that fight never happened and him / his team even admitted they could've had the fight if they wanted.

Except no

Dana White wants Jon Jones to call if he wants Francis Ngannou: ‘We can make that fight tonight’

Dana White says talk is one thing, but action is another. The action Jon Jones needs to take if he wants the Francis Ngannou fight is to pick up the phone.

finance.yahoo.com

Dana, March 27, 2021 - "We can make that fight tonight, Jon"

Jones is the reason the fight didn't happen. He didn't spend 2 years gaining weight, in his own words he was already at the right weight

 

[jitzmonkey]

Jones is the champ.
Aspinall didn’t have a claim to a belt until he beat another non-titleholder.

While there’s something to be said for champions ducking contenders for bigger fights (O’Malley with Chito, Bisping with Hendo and GSP, etc…)

That said, JBJ is arguably the GOAT.
As the official UFC HW champ, he hasn’t ducked anyone yet.

 

[blaseblase]

Absent that, there's only one big fight left In terms of numbers. Stipe.

Tom would be a great fight for the hardcore fans, I'd like to see it. But nobody knows who he is.

Which means Jones would cut his payday in half, for what is effectively his final UFC fight just to fight him.

Why would his payday get cut in half? Since when is Stipe a PPV draw?

 

[Steve Fox]

Jones is the champion. Aspinall didn't beat Jones.

 

[AstralPanda]

Except no

Dana White wants Jon Jones to call if he wants Francis Ngannou: ‘We can make that fight tonight’

Dana White says talk is one thing, but action is another. The action Jon Jones needs to take if he wants the Francis Ngannou fight is to pick up the phone.

finance.yahoo.com

Dana, March 27, 2021 - "We can make that fight tonight, Jon"

Jones is the reason the fight didn't happen. He didn't spend 2 years gaining weight, in his own words he was already at the right weight

There's a lot of layers to these mega fights. It's never as black and white as it seems.

Like Ngannou said, It's the UFC's fault for the fight not happening.

Which is probably more true than anything.

It was very clear that the only reason Jones was moving to HW to begin with was a big payday. A huge pay bump.

Back then, the pandemic was in full swing, there were no live crowds and the UFC wasn't budging.

By the time that began to change and the UFC was finally in a position to play ball again, so to speak..Ngannou entered his own contract dispute and was looking to fight out the last bout on his contract. He also just had knee surgery.

Realistically, the only time the fight could've been made Is the end of the year / early 2023.

Jones was already back by this point, he'd clearly come to an agreement with the UFC to fight for the belt. As reported by Chael, Dana, the media, Ariel.

But, ultimately Frank decided not to sign.