Merab Dvalishvili's coach comes clean on whether Jon Jones should be stripped of UFC title for seemingly delaying Tom Aspinall fight

Merab Dvalishvili's coach, Ray Longo, recently expressed his opinions about the ongoing situation between Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall.

Many are calling for 'Bones' to face the Aspinall in a unification title fight for the UFC heavyweight championship. However, it appears Jones is backing away from facing the Brit, as he believes defeating Aspinall would not significantly enhance his legacy.

Longo recently talked about it on the Anik & Florian Podcast. Suggesting Jones should be stripped of his title, he said:

"I think he's the type of guy, 'I'm going to do what I want to do and I don't give a f**k what you think'... That's what he's doing right now. He's holding the power, and that's how he's decided to use it. The UFC can't do anything. They should strip him of the title. I don't think it's fair to Tom Aspinall... He'll be waiting for 15 years before he sees the title, is that right?"

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Check out Ray Longo's comments below (36:26):

Tom Aspinall is optimistic about the potential title unification fight against Jon Jones

Since being crowned the interim UFC heavyweight champion, Tom Aspinall has made multiple calls for a title unification bout, but Jon Jones has continually turned him down. As a result, Aspinall is now the longest-reigning interim champion in UFC history.

In a recent conversation with Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven, Aspinall doubled down on his position and was hopeful for a fight with Jones, saying:

"We hope so... I think we'll get it. I don't know, he's an unpredictable guy. Everybody's got a different idea of what I should do. Some people are like, 'Oh, you should just leave him, and he'll fight you.' Then some people are like, 'The more you talk sh**, the less he wants to fight.'... We're professional fighters, we're supposed to fight each other. That's what we do."

Check out Tom Aspinall's comments about the Jon Jones fight below (via @ChampRDS on X):

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A budding sports management professional, Nilaav Gogoi covers MMA at Sportskeeda. His entry into sports journalism began with stints at Sportszion and First Sportz. Nilaav strives to understand the captivating stories surrounding MMA and its various technical aspects. He is dedicated to providing his audience with accurate and well-authored content while ensuring the information remains reliable.

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Edited by Nilaav Gogoi