Why does Jon Jones need to fight Tom Aspinall?

[Captain Herb]

Why do these Jones betas always say it's about what Jones wants, what's best for Jon Jones? That's wrong, it's about what WE want to see. And WE want to see integrity in the 'Sport'. If you can't even fake integrity then I'm not a fan anymore. Without fans these guys are all fighting in a bar or a backyard somewhere and Dana is dreaming about snow in his driveway while picking up after his Boxercize class.

 

[Yep]

You never deserve to call the shots. He’s not bigger than the sport. Boxing might be more for you.

 

[Bend NvR Break]

Why did Shogun have to fight Jon then? Oh wait because he was the next one in line and that's how it works. Jones needs to vacate or retire...

Ummm.... Shogun was supposed to fight Rashad Evans. Rashad Evans got injured. The UFC offered Jon a short notice title fight against Shogun.
The rest is history.

 

[lsa]

If you (Jon) what to be the undisputed champion he needs to unify the belts.
You cant be undisputed if there is another one with a belt in your division.

 

[Yutyrannus Huali]

You're right, Jon doesn't have to fight Tom if he doesn't want to. If he only wants to presue money fights then cool. If anyone has earned the right to do that it's him. And who wouldn't want to see Jon vs Alex?
But here is the thing, he is the UFC World Heavyweight Champion. Tom is the interim champ. If Jon wants to keep the belt, still, he needs to unify those belts. If he doesn't want to do that then he should give up the belt and let Tom get promoted to undisputed champ. It's wrong of Jon, and it's unfair to Tom and the other Heavyweight contenders, for him to be able to have his cake and eat it too like this.
For the record I do think Jon beats Tom, and even if Tom wins, it wouldn't be nearly as easy as a lot of Sherdogers think it would be. But Jon needs to do the right thing, one way or another.

 

[HHJ]

These trolls cant even keep it together

If they think Jones is so GOATLY they shouldnt have any problem with him fighting Tom.

There should be no reason for them to not want to see that.

 

[HHJ]

dude is sensitive as shit

in that post fight presser the media asked him what Tom said that was so disrespectful and why is he an asshole

and Jon is like uhhh

well he posted this duck thing ...and uhhh

well... IT MIGHT BE FUNNY TO YOU

BUT ITS NOT TO ME

SO I HATE HIM

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

 

[HHJ]

Ummm.... Shogun was supposed to fight Rashad Evans. Rashad Evans got injured. The UFC offered Jon a short notice title fight against Shogun.
The rest is history.

That was such an awkward situation. You can tell that Rashad was not fuckin happy about this shit at all and Jones was trying not very hard to pretend that he gave a fuck about Rashad's feelings.


Then when they were set to have a match with each other later, Jones approached him in a nightclub and they talked privatley an thats when Rashad saw the jekyll/hyde Jones shit come out.

 

[Pem123]

He doesn't need to fight Aspinal, but he need to vacate.

his fight against Stipe should not be for the HW title, if is just a regular fight, no one will have a problem with it.

Jones deserve to pick his opponent at this stage of his career, just not when he is holding a belt.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

why retire if you can fight a 2 division champ?

He said retire or vacate. If he wants to fight Poatan then that's fine but vacate the title if you refuse to fight the rightful next in line.

 

[Greyscale]

He doesn't actually need to fight anyone. But he keeps on fighting and doesn't retire. And he happens to be a champion. But he wants some kind of insulated title reign where he fights a hand-picked opponent every 1 or 2 years. That reeks abu-style travesty. If that's what his title reign looks like he'd better retire

 

[Hdfi]

I don't blame Jones for one minute in not wanting to fight Tom Aspinall. He is going to be 38 years old and clearly not as hungry in the sport as he used to be. Tom is obviously a great fighter and is really hot right now, but the fight does nothing for Jones. If Jones were to win, then Tom loses his next HW fight by KO, the win means nothing. Ciryl Gane was just as dangerous of an opponent as Tom, and apparently now that win means nothing for Jones?

On the contrary, if Jones loses, it allows for people to say he sucks and was never any good, etc. MMA fans are fickle and judge fighters on their last fight. If he doesn't need the money, what does fighting Tom do for him?

And for anyone who thinks Jones has no chance against Tom, that is hilarious. Tom's only great win is against Sergei Pavlovich and it was a rock em sock em robot fight inside a minute. Tom has no formal wrestling background, and has a submission loss against a guy without a wikipedia. He is known for being a fast striker because Joe Rogan says so, but we have never even seen his gas tank. You think a guy with his size and frame can handle the unorthodox style of Jones for 25 minutes? I am getting Shane Carwin vibes completely.

Jon Jones isn't some random fighter who is trying to call his own shots, he is a legend who has been dominant for 16+ years and deserves the fights he wants at this point in his career.

Tom does not deserve to be the guy who gives Jones his first loss. The guy has fought on 2 PPV cards and is a no-name to anyone who isn't a reddit nerd. If someone like Pereira gave Jones his first loss, it is deserved and Jones has no issue with that. Legacy means everything when money doesn't.

wins over Blaydes, Pavlovich, Tybura, Spivac, Volkov > wins over Gane and the corpse of Stipe.

Strip Jones ASAP.

Aspinall has better wins at HW and is the real champion.

 

[tritestill]

Some of you are really idiots. Jon doesn't have to do anything, if he wishes to continue to be HW champ he should fight Tom. Him vacating and fighting someone else is the literal opposite of the legacy he wants.

 

[JBJ was here]

Forget bullshit interim titles. Tom is the number one heavyweight UFC contender and behind him there are maybe a couple of gatekeepers and a handful of fighters who have legitimate aspirations to be gatekeepers. There is no number two contender.

 

[Bend NvR Break]

That was such an awkward situation. You can tell that Rashad was not fuckin happy about this shit at all and Jones was trying not very hard to pretend that he gave a fuck about Rashad's feelings.


Then when they were set to have a match with each other later, Jones approached him in a nightclub and they talked privatley an thats when Rashad saw the jekyll/hyde Jones shit come out.

I remember.
That's was also the beginning of the end for Jackson-Winks.
I remember Greg Jackson explaining that the team approached that situation badly because they never had a situation before where 2 of the team members were fighting and they were fighting for the title. And the team chose to back Jon, the younger newcomer, over Rashad, who was on the team longer and his success helped catapult Jackson-Winks into the best team in the USA during that era.

 

[Rio Ferdinand]

If Jon wants to appease the fans he will take the Tom fight.

I don't even get his fucking obsession with staying undefeated. He'd still be the GOAT whether he wins or loses the fight.

But the UFC desperately needs a marquee fight like this. We've been starved for blockbuster fights for years now. Especially at HW.

 

[Hdfi]

You never deserve to call the shots. He’s not bigger than the sport. Boxing might be more for you.

Boxing actually has more credibility. The IBF stripped Usyk of the IBF heavyweight title because he didn't fight the mandatory challenger.

 

[Bend NvR Break]

If Jon wants to appease the fans he will take the Tom fight.

I don't even get his fucking obsession with staying undefeated. He'd still be the GOAT whether he wins or loses the fight.

But the UFC desperately needs a marquee fight like this. We've been starved for blockbuster fights for years now. Especially at HW.

This isn't true. If the UFC wants to appease the fans, the casual crowd, that actually pays for ppv and goes to places like BWW and other sports bars and pay cover and spends money at the establishments while watching fights, and not the hardcore MMA crowd that don't really spend money and have become experts at pirating ppv they will make the Alex vs Jon. Alex IS THE HOTTEST fighter in the UFC right now and Jon has been king of the mountain for a very long time. Outside of hardcore fans no one knows who the hell Tom Aspinall is. He can't be walking down Michigan Ave and I'm willing to bet from North Ave to Roosevelt Tom won't get recognized. The casual sports watcher that allows ESPN and Fox sports to dictate what sports they watch have heard of both Jon Jones and Alex. Alex might win a freaking ESPY as fighter of the year.

And even if Jon or Alex loses to the other one they lost to an All TIME GREAT. It's not legacy shattering. Losing to Tom at this point is legacy shattering if Tom doesn't go on to have a dominant championship run.

I want to see Alex vs Jon and in the meantime book Gane vs Tom. If Tom beats Gane then I will start pushing to see the winner of Alex vs Jon to fight Tom. If gane wins and Jon wins then damn it it's time to get ngannou back in the UFC to make Jon Jones vs Francis Ngannou. Ngannou got his mega payday in boxing. Let's settle who the baddest man on that planet really is finally.

 

[legedema]

the reason why I want Jones to fight Tom is ; I am still not convinced with Jon being the best HW.
Jones is the ,LHW GOAT but c'mon, he beat Game who has zero TD defence and now Stipe who actually looked like coming from a nap to join a fight.
sure , Jon doesn't need to fight Tom.
but fighting Alex will not show us that Jones is the best HW as well.
Alex is #1 easy fight for Jon and hope if offered to Alex he don't even reply.

hope we can have Jon vs. Tom next

 

[SuperAlly]

Because he holds the HW title
Because Tom has the interim
Because the best should fight the best
Because we as fight fans should want the above
Because we want the sport to be as legit as possible
Because it would add to Jon's legacy
Because the build up and the fight would be awesome
Because Jon would make a tonne of money
Because Tom would make a tonne of money
Because the UFC would make a tonne of money
Because Jon would gain a tonne of respect, win or lose
Because Tom would get a tonne of credit win or lose
Because it would be a fuck load more competitive than Jon v Pereira. (Much as I love Alex, Jon would grapple fuck him maybe worse than Gane)
Because it may be the only challenge for Jon at HW
Because it would be fucking awesome