Daniel Cormier is surprised that Jon Jones walked away from fighting without fighting Tom Aspinall.
On Saturday following UFC Baku, Dana White revealed that Jones was officially retiring as a fighter, and as UFC heavyweight champion, and that Tom Aspinall would be promoted from interim champion, to undisputed champ.
While the world wanted Jones vs. Aspinall, and Dana White “100 percent” guaranteed it on multiple occasions, Jones called it a career instead. Cormier, Jones’ most legendary rival, gave his thoughts on his YouTube channel.
“I said… if Jon Jones doesn’t fight Tom Aspinall, he quit,” Cormier said. “Because he will walk away from something that has defined his entire adult life. …
“[Fighting] saved him, it allowed for him to build a great life. And honestly, I’m not mad that this young man has a life with his family, and they got money, and they got all these great things, but it does not change the fact that by not stepping in that octagon, he quit. He didn’t want to fight Tom Aspinall. It’s so surprising.”
Jones only competed twice since his controversial light heavyweight title defense over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in February 2020, which turned out to be the final divisional bout for the all-time great.
Over three years later, “Bones” returned at heavyweight to capture the vacant title against Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in March 2023. Nearly two years later, Jones returned to the octagon after overcoming a slew of injuries to destroy Stipe Miocic at UFC 309.
The problem was a year prior, the UFC made an interim title fight between Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich, which Aspinall won with relative ease. Aspinall went on to obliterate Curtis Blaydes in a minute at UFC 304 a year ago, and since then, all attention from the fanbase and every pundit in the sport went to a Jones vs. Aspinall showdown.
According to Cormier — and the vast majority of UFC fans and media — the only person who didn’t want that fight was Jones himself. “DC” is going so far as to say that if Aspinall is out of the championship equation, even in the short term, Jones might fight again.
“He doesn’t want to fight Tom,” Cormier said. “I honestly feel like if Tom loses, he would come back. And that’s crazy to me, because that’s only going to make it worse.”
Ever since Jones began no-selling Aspinall as a non-worthy adversary, fans became annoyed, claiming Jones was “ducking” Aspinall. Even a petition with around 200,000 signatures was signed to have the UFC strip Jones of the heavyweight title.
Jones walks away as arguably the greatest to ever do it, but Cormier understands why Jones’ legacy could be questioned for years to come.
“Is he scared? No, but by not fighting Aspinall, he opened the conversation,” Cormier explained. “He lets you, every one of you question why he doesn’t fight him.”
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