UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones and interim titleholder Tom Aspinall have engaged in a verbal sparring session on social media after ‘Bones’ expressed his displeasure at his rival’s recent calls for a title unification bout between them.
“Only four recognizable opponents, and already the king of England, must be nice,” Jones wrote in a post on X aimed at Aspinall. “There will be legendary tales told about you and your infamous callouts.”
A fan then pointed out that Aspinall had done what he could to earn his title shot, but Jones wasn’t interested.
“I mean, it doesn’t really work like that,” Jones responded. “I was a champion when I was 23 years old, you cant show up at age 30 pretending like you’ve been chasing me your whole life. I have no clue who 90% of his resume is, meanwhile, I’ve been highlighting UFC events my entire career.”
At this point Aspinall entered the chat, and appeared bemused that Jones couldn’t see things from his point of view.
“Jon you’re letting your ego run wild here mate,” Aspinall wrote. “I’m not downplaying your resume, it’s incredible. Far superior to mine.
“You are known as the best fighter ever, and that’s exactly why I want to beat you. Surely you can understand that?”
However, Jones continued to vent regardless.
“It’s a wild world we live in!” Jones wrote. “People can be so quick to try to replace you, throw you away, discredit your work. That’s the best thing about them stats or just being able to see the fruits of your labor.
“Be an absolute savage at what you do, at whatever capacity that may be. Let the work speak for itself, be undeniable in this world ladies and gentlemen. Be absolutely undeniable.”
“Jon Jones: “you need to fight people who build your legacy,” Aspinall posted.
“Me: “great idea. Absolutely
“UFC: “do you wanna fight Tom?
“Stipe: “no”
“Jon: “no”
Me: “”
“I love how a fighter can do an interview about me every week, make silly memes on the Internet. And then, when I respond, they play the victim role. Lol,” Jones mused.
Jones then responded to Aspinall directly.
“Tom, you talking about someone’s ego running wild is one of the most hypocritical things ever., You literally haven’t kept my balls out of your mouth since you won that imaginary championship,” Jones wrote. “Both you and Serge have zero championships between your name. It’s funny that you actually walk around feeling like the world champion. Especially when the actual champion is undefeated, and had a flawless last performance. Literally didn’t get hit my last fight.”
“Forget all the other stuff about titles and résumé ect,” Aspinall wrote to Jones. “I just think I can beat you in a fight mate, but if you don’t want to, I won’t keep chasing you ♂️ .”
“Brilliant response mate,” Jones replied.
Jones then replied to a fan who suggested he might be afraid of Serge Pavlovich too, and went on to hint that he could retire in the not so distant future.
“Yep, I’m terrified,” Jones responded sarcastically. “No matter who would’ve won that interim, championship, the narrative still would be the same. The goat is getting older now, and is running from fights. 36-year-old lifelong champion starting to contemplate retirement. What a chicken.
“What I refuse to do is be like a lot of these other fighters who stuck around too long. That just won’t happen. Your boy Bones Jones over here, despite what a lot of people may like to think. Ive set myself up pretty well in life. I want Stipe for my résumé, outside of that, I need nothing else from this sport. I came, I saw, and I conquered. Facts.”
When asked if that meant he was confirming he’d retire after his eventual fight with Stipe Miocic, Jones instead opted to talk around the subject.
“I’m not saying that, what I am saying is, coming back from two different surgeries, and defeating Stipe is my primary goal, and a huge feat if you ask me. We both have already agreed to massive contracts, a win for either one of us would be absolutely massive for either of our careers. Despite how good Tom may seem right now, a win over him really does nothing for my legacy. That’s just the truth. That’s all I’m saying, I understand a lot of you guys don’t fully understand what’s happening behind the scenes. You don’t make it as far as myself and Stipe not realizing the business side of this.”
Some fans went on to question that statement, suggesting that fighting a 30-year-old interim champ in their prime like Aspinall would do more for his legacy than beating a 41-year-old former champ in Miocic who hadn’t fought in almost 3 years since being KO’d by Francis Ngannou.
However, by this stage both Jones and Aspinall appeared to have had enough of the debate and, for the time being at least, have gone quiet.
