Jon Jones' resume is unsurpassed in mixed martial arts. He's the most dominant fighter in the world.
That said, he's fought once, for two minutes and four seconds, in the last three years, 11 months and one day. He submitted Ciryl Gane on March 4, 2003, at UFC 285 in Las Vegas, his only bout since his final light heavyweight title defense, against Dominick Reyes in Houston on Feb. 8, 2020.
It's been awhile. That's what made it kind of disheartening to see Jones get into a social media battle with Tom Aspinall, the UFC's interim heavyweight champion. Aspinall understandably wants to fight Jones, who won the heavyweight title at UFC 285 that Francis Ngannou had vacated.
Aspinall has basically kissed Jones' put begging for a chance to fight him after Jones made an odd argument against him.
Jon you’re letting your ego run wild here mate. I’m not downplaying you’re résumé, it’s incredible. Far superior to mine. You are known as the best fighter ever, and that’s EXACTLY why I want to beat you. Surely you can understand that? https://t.co/jCo4Obz9pY
— Tom Aspinall (@AspinallMMA) January 9, 2024
Aspinall's response was perfect to Jones' tweet. Yes, Jones has done significantly more in the sport than Aspinall has ever done, or maybe ever will do. No one is arguing that. Jones is the greatest of all-time. For emphasis, let's say it in all caps: JON JONES IS THE GREATEST OF ALL-TIME IN MIXED MARTIAL ARTS.
There. Of that, there's no doubt.
But Jones' argument about Aspinall showing up at age 30 doesn't hold water. Nobody's resume compares to Jones' and by his logic, it means that nobody would qualify to fight him.
In the bouts before he replaced an injured Rashad Evans to challenge then-light heavyweight champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 128 on March 19, 2011, Jones didn't exactly run through a gamut of the greatest of all-time. He fought Ryan Bader, Vladimir Matyushenko, Brandon Vera, Matt "The Hammer" Hamill and Jake O'Brien. Rua's five opponents before facing Jones were Lyoto Machida twice, Chuck Liddell, Mark Coleman and Forrest Griffin.
Rua, though, gave Jones the shot at his belt, and didn't make the argument that because he'd faced better competition and had accomplished more that Jones wasn't worthy of a shot. Jones proved himself worthy of the shot when the bell rang. And that's what Aspinall wants the chance to do.
Jones is recovering from a pectoral injury and underwent elbow surgery that will keep him out an additional amount of time, so he's not going to fight any time soon. So the fight to make -- perhaps for UFC 300 on April 13 -- would be Aspinall against former champion Stipe Miocic.
That would then anoint the winner as the rightful challenger to Jones. Miocic has a great resume, but it's closing in on three years since he last fought.
At this stage, Aspinall is the best active heavyweight in mixed martial arts in a position to challenge Jones. Ngannou is going to box Anthony Joshua on March 8, and there is doubt whether he ever fights in another MMA bout given the huge paydays he's racking up in boxing. Miocic hasn't fought since losing to Ngannou on March 27, 2021. Aspinall knocked out Sergei Pavlovich in roughly a minute in November.
Aspinall is one of a number of people who is saying he has what it takes to beat Jones. It's Jones' job as champion to prove him long. Somehow, though, Jones seems to have forgotten he once was the young up-and-comer who dreamed of challenging himself against the legends of his time.
Jones' logic is skewed here. Aspinall is the consensus No. 1 heavyweight challenger in the UFC and he deserves the opportunity to fight the best to, like Jones did nearly 13 years ago against Rua, prove he's the best in the world, bar none.