Jon Jones has made it clear the has no plans to battle Tom Aspinall anytime quickly. However would Stipe Miocic tackle the interim heavyweight champion?
Miocic is at the moment scheduled to problem Jones for the undisputed heavyweight title in the primary occasion of UFC 309, which takes place at Madison Sq. Backyard in New York on Nov. 16. UFC CEO Dana White has designated Aspinall because the backup, however some have questioned whether or not Jones or Miocic would settle for such a harmful opponent on quick discover, together with analyst Daniel Cormier, who doesn’t “consider that both of them will do it.”
On the Imagine You Me podcast, Cormier’s fellow UFC analyst Anthony Smith is assured at the least one facet of the UFC 309 matchup would battle Aspinall.
“I feel [Miocic] will,” Smith stated. “Anytime I’ve ever had conversations about this sort of stuff with Stipe, I do know that I feel on this complete media world—not simply [BYM host Michael Bisping] and I, however the media within the basic and the UFC and everybody that talks about it—they make it look like Stipe actually provides a shit. He doesn’t actually give a shit. He’s barely a fighter. Like, he doesn’t have the mentality of a fighter until he’s in there actively preventing. He doesn’t speak about fights, he doesn’t actually watch them that a lot. He trains each single day, however he’s simply not immersed on this world in any respect. He desires to beat Jon as a result of everybody else says that Jon is the very best. He couldn’t care much less about Jon Jones.
“He simply doesn’t. Whether or not it’s Jon or it’s Tom Aspinall, he’s going to coach about the identical. It’s not going to actually change a lot. He has that mentality the place it’s not about what that man goes to do and the way I’m going to react to it, his complete mindset is flipped. Right here’s what I’m going to do and he has to take care of it. That’s how Stipe’s mindset has all the time been, so whether or not it’s Jon or whether or not it’s Tom, it doesn’t change something for Stipe.”
Jones and Miocic are each coming off of lengthy layoffs, with Jones having final fought in March 2023, when he defeated Ciryl Gane to win a vacant heavyweight title, and Miocic out of motion since March 2021, when he dropped his belt to Francis Ngannou.
The UFC 309 major occasion has been billed as a battle between legends with Jones being arguably the best fighter of all time primarily based off of his exploits at 205 kilos, and Miocic proudly owning the file for probably the most consecutive profitable defenses of the UFC’s heavyweight belt (3). Regardless of all of the hoopla, Bisping is satisfied Miocic is content material together with his life and legacy, and that’s why he won’t care who he finally ends up preventing in November.
“He’s like, ‘It’s not my identification,’” Bisping stated, taking Miocic’s perspective. “‘I’m who I’m. Yeah, OK, I used to be the champion of the world and yeah, I wish to be that. I wish to beat Jon Jones and sure, I need all the things that comes with it. However I’ve additionally made some cash, I’ve carried out my factor, I’m a fireman, I’m an everyday man. I’m a blue-collar man. I’ve received cash within the financial institution, I’ve received a spouse, I’ve received kids. I’m not regarding myself with this circus on social media and all of this bullshit.
“I’ll be out doing my factor, I’ll be taking care of my household, after which when the time’s proper, I’ll soar on a aircraft and I’ll fly to New York and I’ll battle the best fighter that’s ever lived. And if I beat him, whoop-dee-[expletive]-do, and if I don’t, so be it.’”
Bisping and Smith agreed Jones is much less more likely to settle for Aspinall as a alternative opponent, given how a lot time Jones has invested into the Miocic matchup. Nonetheless, Bisping cautioned towards throwing Jones below the bus ought to the situation come up the place he passes on preventing Aspinall, since Jones is just taking care of his greatest pursuits.
“That’s what I liken it to, or evaluate it to, any individual getting married and all the things’s all there,” Bisping stated. “That’s sort of the stress you’re feeling as a fighter as nicely to drag out. Some folks may say, ‘That’s a bitch transfer.’ ‘You’re a p*ssy.’ However that’s having the balls to say, ‘Maintain on a minute’—and by the best way, I’m not advocating for Jon Jones to do that and saying, ‘Perceive why’—what I’m saying is it’s actually exhausting in these sorts of conditions to be like, ‘No, I’m going to do what’s greatest for me. I’m not right here to do what’s greatest for you, the followers, or the corporate, or no matter. I’m going to do me and proper now, I feel what’s greatest for me is that if I battle Tom Aspinall after a full camp.’”
