Jon Jones has made trolling Tom Aspinall into something of a hobby. The former heavyweight champion allegedly turned down thirty million dollars rather than fight the British interim titleholder earlier this year. He even announced his retirement to avoid the matchup, only to come back weeks later wanting to fight Alex Pereira instead.
Jones has been relentless in mocking Aspinall, most recently showing up to an event on horseback, with his horse wearing an eye patch, a clear jab at the UFC 321 eye poke controversy. Now he’s taken his criticism even further by analyzing Aspinall’s performance against Ciryl Gane before that fight ended in disaster.
During the No Scripts Podcast, Jones (28-1) gave his honest assessment of Tom Aspinall’s skill set. He didn’t just dismiss Aspinall’s abilities casually, he broke down specific weaknesses he observed during that brief first round. Coming from arguably the greatest MMA fighter of all time, these criticisms carry weight whether Aspinall’s supporters want to admit it or not. Jones submitted Gane in the first round at UFC 285, so he knows exactly what the Frenchman brings to the table and how to handle him.
“I feel as Tom is a great athlete, but I do feel like he is a one-trick pony. I believe his wrestling and jiu-jitsu are incredibly overrated. He has a beautiful 1-2. I got to learn a lot about his patterns in his last fight. Beautiful 1-2, but that’s really about it. He couldn’t touch Ciryl Gane at all.”
That’s harsh criticism from someone who’s faced and defeated virtually every style imaginable during his legendary career. The New Yorker pointed out that Aspinall couldn’t touch Ciryl Gane effectively during their brief exchange. Jones noted that Gane appeared to be just getting warmed up with his hands down, bouncing around confidently.
Aspinall struggled with his level changes and couldn’t complete takedowns successfully. For the first time in his UFC career, he left the opening round with a bloody nose and looking uncomfortable. These observations from Jones aren’t completely unfair. Aspinall genuinely looked less dominant than usual against Gane’s movement and striking.
Regardless of the Analysis, Jones will probably never fight Aspinall at this point. He’s made it abundantly clear through his actions and words that he has zero interest in that matchup. Whether it’s fear, strategic legacy protection, or genuine belief that Aspinall isn’t worthy remains debatable.
(Image Credit: Kirby Lee – Imagn Images)
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