Jon Jones has shut down talk of unifying the heavyweight title against Tom Aspinall if he beats Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 next weekend in New York City, but the star has left the door open for a potential super-fight against 205lb champ Alex Pereira.
“More than likely not [fighting Tom Aspinall],” Jones told Kevin Iole in a new interview. “I feel like Tom Aspinall is, I don’t want to say nobody, but he just hasn’t proven anything. He hasn’t done anything. I understand that he won his belt against Sergei [Pavlovich]. Sergei just got slaughtered by [Alexander Volkov]. I’m not here to gamble someone else making a name off of me.
“I’m here to compete against the guys when we look back 10 years from now like ‘Jon Jones fought this guy and that guy and this legend and this champion and this champion.”
Despite persistent talk that Jones may retire after the Miocic fight however, it seems there is still a chance he will compete again as he’s expressed interest in a dream match-up against former middleweight and current light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.
“If there were to be a fight of a guy that’s still on our UFC roster that would be not only financially worth it but legacy worth it, it would be Alex Pereira.
“Alex Pereira and I, we’re both 37 years old. Right now I weigh about 235 [pounds]. I’m an incredibly light heavyweight. I think Pereira walks around at 240.
“I think that fight would go much farther on my legacy than a young man who’s cool today and maybe gone tomorrow.”
That’s a fight fans would undoubtedly love to see, but it would be harsh on Aspinall if he’s forced to wait indefinitely on a chance to trade his current interim heavyweight title for the undisputed belt.
Check out Jones full interview with Iole below.
