New York – UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones defends his title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 this Saturday night in what many are calling the biggest heavyweight title fight in UFC history.
Yet he still can’t seem to avoid questions about interim champ Tom Aspinall. Duck calls, emojis and the sort have been hurled at the heavyweight champ on social media and it’s something he truly doesn’t understand.
“I feel like narratives have been created that just truly aren’t there. You can’t duck a man that you were never scheduled to fight. It’s like saying you got turned down by a girl who you never even hit on. Me and Dana and Hunter have never sat down and talked about Tom Aspinall,” Jones told reporters including Cageside Press on Wednesday.
“He’s never been on my radar. Never. Just a moment ago it was him and Sergei that was fighting and Sergei could be in this position right now and I would still be in the same place.”
Jones (27-1) has always had to answer questions about the next challenge before he gets through the fight at hand. He said he’s never seen any other fighter have to deal with that before.
“I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I think what it is, is being so good at what I do. It’s just almost never enough. I’m very aware that Tom Aspinall is making more headlines than Stipe. It’s just the way that it is with me,” he said.
“When I win there’s always an excuse. It’s an interesting place to be in and it’s hard to compare to any other fighter.”
The champion said he understood why fans want to see him fight Aspinall and unify the belts, but in his mind there’s nothing to gain from beating someone like the interim champ.
“I get that Tom is an exciting fighter. I get that finally after 16 years we found somebody who’s seven years younger than me and 30 pounds bigger than me. Like we finally found someone who may give me a great challenge, and everyone wants to see it so bad,” he said.
“For me it’s like what’s in it for me? He changes nothing if I beat him. Beating Tom is just like beating Cyril Gane. Has a whole country behind him, he’s hot right now, what happens to me after I beat him, nothing changes for me.”
So will we ever see Jones vs. Aspinall to unify the titles and declare an undisputed heavyweight champion?
“He does nothing for me. If you’re a person that wants to see me really challenged then I get it. Seven years younger, 35 pounds bigger than me. I get it. Jon’s so good we finally found someone way younger and way bigger than him. I get that narrative,” he said.
“If I’m being completely honest I feel like Tom’s been such an assh*le that I don’t want to do business with him. He’s just an assh*le.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Jon Jones above. He defends his title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 on Saturday night.
