When it comes to not wanting to unify the UFC heavyweight title against Tom Aspinall, Daniel Cormier sees right through Jon Jones.
During an appearance on the “Full Send Podcast” that released Thursday, Jones made it clear that he currently isn’t interested in fighting, which has Cormier wondering one thing.
“What took so long? What took so long for you to tell us, ‘Hey, if (the desire to fight) comes back, I’ll come back.’ But right now it’s not there. What took so long?” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “You will get grace in that regard. By not saying something, by waiting to say something, you gave people the idea that you just don’t want to fight this guy. Seriously, that you just don’t want to fight this guy, who represents another era of fighter. …
“By taking so long, he’s now given you the idea, ‘Well, he’s afraid.'”
Specific to Aspinall, who’s held the UFC interim heavyweight title since November 2023 and defended the belt last July, Jones insists he’s “not in a position to excite (him)” and that beating him would simply represent a win over “the next guy,” which Jones did through generations of contenders while he was light heavyweight champion.
Cormier takes umbrage with this mentality from Jones.
“That might’ve worked before. That’s not working this time. That’s where Jones loses me,” said Cormier, who called for the UFC to strip Jones of the heavyweight title. “I get it that he’s seen the great hope of someone that’s going to beat him in the past. There’s never been someone like this. … Let me tell you why it’s never been someone like Aspinall: because of the way the rules have changed. If this was Jon Jones at 28 years old, no worry for him, and Aspinall would not be the biggest threat to him. The reason Aspinall is the biggest threat to him today is because (Jones is) 38 years old. Because he’s lived a life of excess, partying, living, doing all those things that back in the day got him into trouble. …
“Aspinall’s the biggest threat today because the roles have reversed. At 28 years old, Jon would’ve seen Tom a million times over and fought him already. But Jon, at 38, recognizes that this dude is a little better. He’s not afraid. He just doesn’t want to get knocked out. Jon Jones prefers to let his legacy stay as is with the caveat that he didn’t fight Tom Aspinall, didn’t run the risk of fighting Tom Aspinall and getting beat by Tom Aspinall. That’s where the difference lies. That’s where the worry comes from. That’s why we’re seeing a man say ‘this guy doesn’t really excite me’ when in reality, it’s exciting. But it’s also very scary.”
Dana White said this week that a decision on a potential Jones vs. Aspinall fight will be made “in the next couple of weeks,” but it seems Jones already has made the decision for the UFC.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Daniel Cormier puts Jon Jones on blast, says Tom Aspinall ‘very scary’