Jon Jones does not owe anything, says a former UFC title title.
The UFC Heavyweight Champion enjoys life in Thailand, while interim title holder and #1 competition Tom Aspinall has been campaigning for almost 600 days for a title Unification Bout.
Jon Jones, perhaps the biggest MMA hunter of all time, is not too worried about discovering his title, because more than 50,000 fans have signed a petition for the UFC to do this.
Former UFC champion Michael Bisping recently insisted on Jones to 'defend or leave' the heavyweight title and said that Jones has the obligation to fight against the younger Aspinall, just as champion Mauricio Rua did against a 23-year-old Jones in 2011.
This seems to be a constant story between Jones and Aspinall – someone who doesn't buy everyone.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Kenny Florian says that Jon Jones Tom Aspinall does not owe a fight on this point of his career
Two-time UFC title Challenger Kenny Florian has weighed the Jones-Aspinall-Saga, which states that the youngest champion in UFC history is no one fight.
“I have heard other people say that Jon Jones Tom Aspinall should give his chance, just like Jon Jones got a chance,” said Florian on the Anik & Florian Podcast.
“First of all, he fought Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua when 'Shogun' was 29 years old. He received nothing from Shogun. This was not a fight at the end of his career.
“Perhaps it was not a Shogun at its peak as when he was in 2005, but he was 29 years old. This was not a rinsed champion, late in the thirty, early forty, where it was, oh, shogun owed Jon Jones this young up-and-comer [a fight].
“Nobody owes anything,” Florian continued.
“For Jon Jones he does care about his legacy. How many champions have we seen many former champions in the sport for too long? Do they owe those people? Are they proud that they owed the UFC or the fans something?
“The fans are going to dictate a lot of what happens to these fights. Of course they are the lifeline, they are the reason why there is so much money behind these fights. But they really owe anyone for a professional athlete.”
Kenny Florian thinks Jon Jones wants Tom Aspinall to fight someone else to collect 'more Intel'
About why Jones has not yet set a fight with Aspinall, Florian theoretizes that the legendary tactician wants more film on Aspinall before fighting him.
“I also think he wants to force Tom Aspinall a lot in another fight before he fights him,” said Florian.
“Because here is the thing: as good as Tom Aspinall is, I would claim that we still don't know much about him. Why because he just smears people within a few minutes, and we still don't know how good he is.
“So I think he wants him to have a kind of difficult fight for more Intel, and I think he also wants to have a little more wear on those bones of Tom Aspinall.”
Aspinall currently has the shortest average fighting time (2:02) in the UFC with nine fights. Aspinall has completed all eight of his UFC opponents, including seven in the first round.