MMA news: Jon Jones makes shocking Tom Aspinall admission after UFC 321

Jon Jones was not impressed with Tom Aspinall’s performance against Ciryl Gane before the eye poke that the Englishman endured prematurely ended the bout at UFC 321 just under a fortnight ago, on October 25.

Here, Sports News Blitz’s Niall Togher breaks down Jones’ comments and what they could mean for the heavyweight division moving forward.

Aspinall’s title defence ends in controversy

After being forced to sit on the sidelines for more than a year after a fight with Jon Jones never materialised, Aspinall was keen to kick off his reign as undisputed UFC heavyweight champion with a bang against Gane. 

Unfortunately, this was not to be the case after an eye poke from Gane meant Aspinall was unable to continue, and the bout was ruled a no-contest after four minutes and 35 seconds of the first round had elapsed.

Before the foul, the fight was closer than many anticipated, with Gane able to evade the bulk of Aspinall’s power shots and land some clean jabs from the outside, with one strike in particular busting up the nose of the champion.

Jon Jones labels Tom Aspinall a ‘one-trick pony’

Jones, the former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion, was quick to poke fun at Aspinall despite the 38-year-old opting to retire when an offer from the UFC, which would have made the lucrative heavyweight clash a reality, was on the table.

In a recent appearance on the No Scripts Podcast, Jones was critical of the man who now holds the belt he previously vacated.

“Tom’s a great athlete, but I do feel like he’s a one-trick pony. I believe his wrestling and jiu-jitsu is incredibly overrated. 

“He has a beautiful 1-2. I got to learn a lot about his patterns in his fight. That’s really about it,” Jones said.

With Aspinall having an average fight time of just two minutes and 18 seconds, many speculated that the lack of data available on the 32-year-old was one of the primary reasons Jones opted to retire instead of making the biggest fight in UFC heavyweight history.

Perhaps Aspinall’s fight at UFC 321 humanised him enough to lure Jones out of retirement in the future.

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Dana White provides Tom Aspinall eye injury update

Before any rumours of a potential fight between Jones and Aspinall heat up further after the American’s recent comments, Aspinall must first get through a rematch with Gane once his eye injury heals up.

White recently provided an update on the status of his heavyweight champion on the Jim Rome Show.

“He [Aspinall] doesn’t have a detached retina; there’s no damage to the eye. He should heal up soon, and we’ll figure out when we can make the fight again,” White said.

With many fans feeling as though Gane was winning the first encounter before it came to an abrupt end, the imminent rematch between Aspinall and Gane has unexpectedly become one of the most anticipated fights in all of MMA.

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