Let's state it upfront, clearly and unequivocally: I would rather see Jon Jones defend the UFC heavyweight title in his next fight against Tom Aspinall than any other fighter you might name. I base that opinion on the belief that Aspinall is the best MMA heavyweight in the world besides Jones, bar none.
That being said, Jones has earned the right to choose his next opponent, and if he wants to face former champion Stipe Miocic next, then it should be Miocic. When one becomes so clearly the best to ever do it in his sport as Jones has done, he earns privileges others do not. Jones wants to fight Miocic, as he's said repeatedly on social media, including the other night when he got into a battle with fans.
Those fans wanted to him to face Aspinall, the UFC's interim champion, and weren't so thrilled about a match with Miocic, the former heavyweight champion who hasn't fought since losing his title to Francis Ngannou at UFC 260 in Las Vegas on March 27, 2021. Miocic last won a fight on Aug. 15, 2020, when he defeated Daniel Cormier at UFC 252.
The argument against Miocic is almost exclusively about his lack of activity, though it is only fair to note that he signed to fight Jones at UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 11, 2023, but lost the bout when Jones was injured and had to withdraw. As a replacement, the UFC pitted Aspinall against Sergei Pavlovich for the interim belt. Aspinall, in the performance of his lifetime, knocked Pavlovich out in the first round to win the belt.
He's since done all he can do to make a fight with Jones.
Jones, though, began to prepare for Miocic and isn't interested in wasting that preparation. And as good as Aspinall appears to be, he doesn't have the resume that Miocic has. Other than Pavlovich, Aspinall's biggest win is probably a submission of Alexander Volkov. Miocic is regarded as the greatest heavyweight in UFC history, and he has two wins over Cormier and wins over Ngannou, Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum, among others.
I’m in the middle of a pretty clear decision… stick to exact and original plans, and fight the man with all the accolades. Or, completely disregard all of the Stipe training I’ve put in and fight another potential hype train that may not even be around in three years.
— BONY (@JonnyBones) May 9, 2024
I am not…
Jones' stance is similar to the one he took that ultimately forced the cancellation of UFC 151. Jones was supposed to fight Dan Henderson that night for the UFC light heavyweight title. Nine days before the event, Henderson was injured and had to withdraw. The UFC proposed Chael Sonnen as a replacement.
Jones and his coaching staff balked, not prepared to take on a different type of opponent, and UFC CEO Dana White ultimately canceled the entire card when he couldn't get Jones to change his mind. White lashed out at Jones coach Greg Jackson and referred to him as a "sport killer."
Jones had prepared for Henderson and his style, and didn't feel it was in his best interest as a competitor to face an opponent with a different style without the optimal preparation time. Jones was ripped in many corners, but he eventually defended against Sonnen and stopped him in the first round.
That meticulousness is a big part of what has made Jones so great. He's 27-1 with a no-contest, and the loss was by disqualification to Matt Hamill in a fight he was about to finish. He's an elite athlete with the tools that make a fighter great, but he is rarely surprised in the Octagon. In the one fight that he admits he barely trained for, he struggled mightily before pulling out a unanimous decision over Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165 on Sept. 21, 2013, in Toronto.
Jones had no other fights that were really close, and he's 15-0 with seven finishes in UFC title fights. He won the heavyweight title by submitting Ciryl Gane via guillotine choke at 2:04 of the first round at UFC 285 in Las Vegas on March 4, 2023.
That long history has earned him leeway that other fighters don't deserve. No, he can just choose to take on an unranked contender for the title and expect it to fly, with either the public or the UFC. But Miocic is not just another fighter. He's a legendary figure in the sport and, remember, he was prepared to fight at UFC 295 when Jones' withdrew.
A fight with Aspinall, it says here, would be more entertaining than a fight with Miocic, and there's higher chance of an upset. Aspinall is showing he may be the next truly great UFC heavyweight. He has those kinds of skills.
The sad part is, if Jones doesn't fight Aspinall next, he may never fight him. If Jones loses to Miocic, there'd undoubtedly be a rematch. If he wins, he's likely to retire. Jones himself hasn't been greatly active. His fight with Gane was his first in 37 months, and it's been 14 months since the Gane fight. So in four years and three months, Jones has fought once.
It's unreasonable now to expect him to suddenly fight every four months. If he beats Miocic, we may never get that Aspinall fight that looks so attractive.
But other fights, like Randy Couture versus Fedor Emelianenko or Brock Lesnar versus Emelianenko, never were made and the sport still grew and prospered.
Hopefully, Jones will fight Aspinall one day, but his long run of success gives him a lot of clout to determine who should be next. If he wins Miocic, he deserves to see Miocic.