Jon Jones might be able to save his legacy with this one thing even if he doesn’t fight Tom Aspinall!
Jon Jones has always been a complicated superstar. He is a fighter whose incredible talent gets tangled up with endless drama and controversy. Throughout his career, he’s managed to overcome legal troubles, failed drug tests, and public relations disasters. But now he faces a different kind of challenge that might be harder to navigate than any courtroom or USADA hearing. The heavyweight division’s interim champion, Tom Aspinall, has been calling him out relentlessly, and many fans believe Jones is avoiding the fight. The situation has put Jones in an awkward position where his legacy hangs in the balance based on whether he takes this particular fight.
Chael Sonnen, who once fought Jones, has always had a knack for finding unique angles on controversial situations, and he has come up with perhaps his most creative theory yet about how Jones can protect his reputation. According to Sonnen’s logic, Jones doesn’t necessarily need to fight Aspinall to salvage his legacy. Instead, he believes there’s a specific scenario that could actually work in his favor without him having to step foot in the octagon.
Sonnen’s theory revolves around Jones’ heavyweight performance against Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 to claim the heavyweight title. He did it in dramatic fashion, finishing the fight in the first round at 04:31 mins via a guillotine choke. That timing has become crucial to Sonnen’s argument about how Jones can maintain his standing in the sport.
If this little game of chicken plays out and he doesn’t compete with Aspinall, this little thing called Legacy is not going to go go in his direction unless Tom and Ciryl [Gane] see Round 2. Jon only needed a couple of minutes and never even got punched in the face. Tom Aspinal is going to have to beat four minutes and 31 seconds. And if he doesn’t, Jon Jones without lifting a finger, he’s going to get that legacy and get that reputation back.”
Sonnen suggested that if Aspinall can’t improve upon Jones’ showing against Gane, it would prove that Jones is the superior fighter. The theory relies on the idea that common opponents serve as a measuring stick. But in the real world of MMA, that doesn’t matter. And if A beats B and B beats C, does not automatically mean that A will beat C.
Styles make fights, and a lot of factors are at play in each fight. One cannot simply assume that Tom Aspinall will be facing the exact same Gane that showed up against Jon Jones. Same goes with assuming that the Tom Aspinall who will face Ciryl Gane will also show up against Jon Jones. But anything can happen in the wild world of MMA.
(Image Credit: Thomas Shea – Imagn Images)
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