"Jon Jones don’t want that smoke" - Former strongman reacts to 'Bones' stating Tom Aspinall "hasn't proven anything"

The large number of MMA fans accross the world just flipped their collective tables after Jon Jones dismissed his division's interim champ, Tom Aspinall, as someone who "just hasn't proven anything". 'Bones' in an interview with veteran journalist Kevin Iole, explained why he isn't interested to unify the belts if he successfully defends his UFC heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309.

According to the former UFC light-heavyweight champ, he hasn't seen anything the young Englishman has done that earned him a spot inside the octagon with the consensus GOAT of the sport.

Naturally, Aspinall would take offense to this - and made it known in a cut version of the interview on his Instagram. He then enumerated a few records he has in the UFC, clearly stating that he has already proven a few things in his young career:

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Tom Aspinall's fellow UK native, former British strongman Eddie Hall, stated his opinion plainly:

"Jon jones don’t want that smoke"

Eddie Hall's comment on Tom Aspinall's post. [Image credit: @tomaspinalloffical on Instagram]

Jon Jones downplays Tom Aspinall's achievements, shows interest in fighting Alex Pereira instead

In the Kevin Iole interview, Jones tried to justify his disinterest in facing Aspinall after Miocic. The two-division UFC champion doesn't seem to want to put his legacy on the line over someone he believes hasn't rose to his legendary level just yet.

Jones said (via Kevin Iole on YouTube):

"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. And I understand that, I mean, he won his belt against Sergei [Pavlovich]. Sergei just got slaughtered by someone else so it's like, I'm not here to gamble someone else making a name off of me. I'm here to compete against the guys where, when we look back ten years from now, it'll be like, 'Jon Jones fought this guy and that guy and this legend and this champion.'"

Speaking of legacy, the UFC heavyweight champ believes one "legacy" fight worthy for him to take on is the man who heads the division he once ruled with an iron fist for over a decade: UFC light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.

Jon Jones said:

"If there were to be a fight [with] a guy that's still on the UFC roster that would be, not only financially worth it, but 'legacy' worth it, it would be Alex Pereira."

Check out Jones' comments here (7:56):

About the author

Duane is an expert MMA writer at Sportskeeda with over 10 years of experience working for the likes of Philippine Star, Esquire Philippines, Playboy Philippines, etc. A major in English, he has written over 2000 articles for Sportskeeda section, extensively covering UFC and boxing fights.

Duane is a practicing MMA fighter with a 11-7 record. He is also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt and trains Muay Thai. His connection with MMA dates back to 2005, when he turned into a fan after watching Fedor Emelianenko defeat Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic at Pride FC - Final Conflict 2005.

Emelianenko finds himself right at the top of Duane’s Mt. Rushmore of MMA fighters, alongside other big names like Demetrious Johnson, Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, and Anderson Silva.

Duane’s love for the sport is reflected in his writings, where he believes in speculating but not insinuating. He uses his intensive knowledge and skills in MMA to provide unique insights to the readers, along with sourcing information only from reliable sources.

Outside of work, Duane enjoys martial arts training, visual arts, film criticism, video games, and creative writing.

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Edited by Gerard Crispin