Written by Jon Jones | Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC
Jon Jones could fight Tom Aspinall. For a price.
The UFC heavyweight champion recorded his first successful defense of that title Saturday at UFC 309, walloping Stipe Miocic in the main event en route to a third-round knockout of the future Hall of Famer. Jones’ performance proved he’s still one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, which leaves him with plenty of options for his next fight.
As the promotion’s interim heavyweight champion, Aspinall seems like the logical choice, but Jones has frequently shut down the suggestion that he is under any obligation to fight the British star. During fight week, Jones went as far as to say that Aspinall is “an asshole” and that’s why he refuses to work with him.
Jones was asked to elaborate on that stance at the UFC 309 post-fight presser.
“He’s annoying to me,” Jones said. “He’s annoying to me and that’s my own personal—he annoys me. I get it you guys find it entertaining, but I find him annoying. I just don’t like him and at the end of the day, if I give him the opportunity to fight me, I want to be so compensated-I want to say it, I want that ‘f*ck you’ money, honestly. That’s just what it is.
“Or else my life is perfect without him. I don’t need him at all and he needs me and that’s a good place to be in a negotiation.”
Jones didn’t give the range of compensation that would convince him to fight Aspinall, only saying that it is “a very, very high number.”
After adding another impressive win to his all-time great legacy, Jones feels he’s in control of this chapter of his career. He prefers a fight with current light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, but UFC CEO Dana White recently shot that down saying he’d like to see Jones fight Aspinall first.
Jones insists that a superfight with Pereira is the way to go.
“I’m not really worried about the Tom fight,” Jones said. “I’m really worried about the Pereira fight. That’s what I want to do. I think if the UFC wants to have me back, then I think that’s the fight they’ll make. I’ve been really clear about my intentions. That’s what I want.
“I just feel like anybody would understand at this point. Like, I’ll retire the heavyweight belt if I have to. Give the guy what he wants at the end of the day. I’m not talking about Dana directly. I want to take what I find to be superfights. I don’t want to fight dangerous up-and-comers anymore. I want to fight dangerous established champions. So Tom can have the heavyweight championship, I don’t really care about it. My value doesn’t lie in belts anymore. I’ve created something bigger. I want Pereira.”
Pereira had one of the best years in MMA history, defending his light heavyweight title with three memorable knockouts and developing a reputation for being the UFC’s go-to guy when it came to finding a headliner on less-than-ideal notice. “Poatan” has also suggested he’d like to fight Jones.
Should Jones not get his way, he’s happy to take his ball and go home.
“Styles make matchups,” Jones said. “I’m sure Pereira’s knocked out many heavyweights in his day. He has knockout power that’s bigger than weight. Pereira’s special and for me, it would just be worth my while fighting against Pereira. People can call me ‘a duck’ and ‘a chicken,’ I’m going to go home and cash a massive check. The duck and chicken thing is kind of funny.
“That’s kind of what I want and if it doesn’t line up, then professing my love for Jesus in front of everybody tonight and telling the world how proud I am to be an American champion and fighting in front of [President Elect Donald Trump], man, if that was my last fight ever than I’m cool with that. That was the one to do it. … I think one of the really good things about negotiating is being willing to walk away from a deal and that’s the deal that I want. If that’s not what the fans want, then I guess I’ll say, ‘Sayonara.’”