Following UFC 321, former champion Jon Jones gave a scathing review of current heavyweight title-holder Tom Aspinall that left almost no room for doubt. On his No Scripts podcast, Jones remarked he thought Aspinall fell short of asserting himself in the major event against Ciryl Gane, despite an unintentional eye-poke cutting short the bout.
Important ideas from Jones’s remarks include several keywords. Jones referred to Aspinall as a ‘one-trick pony,’ implying the Englishman lacks flexibility and depends too much on one element of his game. He called Tom Aspinall’s wrestling and jiu-jitsu ‘incredibly overrated’ and asked about their worth. Jones says that Aspinall seemed at ease in the octagon and was unable to land significant punches on Gane. “I felt he couldn’t touch Ciryl Gane at all,” Jones’ comments follow increased attention on Aspinall’s first defence of his undisputed heavyweight belt, a battle that ended devoid of a clear victor.\
Though he still wears the belt, Aspinall’s performance has caused some concerns about his level of depth of expertise and preparation. For Aspinall and the division, this implies that Aspinall now has two difficulties: first, to disprove the story that he is an unfinished fighter; and second, to show he can convincingly end bouts instead of depending on lucky rulings or brief outbursts of fury. For his next performance, Jon Jones’s verdict arguably raises the bar.
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At the same time, this remark from Jones highlights his own enduring impact in the heavyweight class, even as he withdraws from active competition. His readiness to openly dissect a current champion suggests he still thinks of himself as a standard of quality. Once and for all, though Tom Aspinall may still be champion, Jon Jones has made it quite apparent that, in his opinion, the actual work starts now if the Brit is going to shut doubters.