Ahead of his title showdown with Stipe Miocic at UFC 309, Jon ‘Bones’ Jones continues to troll Tom Aspinall over how the heavyweight division could play out; should he claim victory at MSG this weekend.
Not only has Jon Jones stated that he’d be willing to vacate the UFC heavyweight title, but that he’d be open to taking ‘fun’ and ‘random’ fights with various top contenders… Neither of whom are named Tom Aspinall.
Jon Jones claims he could vacate heavyweight title and ‘fight for fun’ after UFC 309
Speaking with veteran MMA reporter Aaron Bronsteter, Jon Jones suggested that he’d be willing to vacate his heavyweight title in order to round out his UFC career with a series of ‘fun’ fights that he’d always dreamed of taking.
“I could see myself, after this, entertaining super-fights only… After this fight, if we get a dominant performance, then I am prepared to vacate the heavyweight championship and fight for fun.
“Man, I want to fight for fun. I’ve had a big chip on my shoulder my whole career of having to defend, defend, defend… I don’t necessarily want it to be over, but I just want to fight for fun.”
Jones claimed that he’s been wanting to take ‘random’ fights, rather than bouts with title consequences, after watching teammate Donald Cerrone’s career unfold – the ‘Cowboy’ himself recently announced his return to MMA.
“I would love to experience that for the first time in my career; not having this belt to try to protect but fighting guys who stylistically, I just want to fight,” Jones said, before throwing out two surprising names who could meet those criteria.
“Just random fights like Jamahal Hill; me and him meet up at 220lbs and see what happens – that would be interesting to see… I’m at an interesting weight where I can fight either light heavyweights or heavyweights.
“Derrick Lewis with his knockout power, the biggest puncher in history – I’m just throwing out random names but I’m at a bodyweight right now where I could do just fun fights, and that’s what I want to do.”
Jones has also teased a potential super-fight with light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.
Tom Aspinall fires back at Jon Jones over ‘legacy’ comments and ‘duck’ accusations
Almost the entire MMA community would rather see Jones fighting interim heavyweight king Tom Aspinall, rather than 42-year-old Stipe Miocic, although Aspinall isn’t necessarily surprised with how the title picture is playing out.
“People are starting to act surprised, ‘oh Jon’s a duck, Jon’s a duck’ – Jon’s ducked Francis Ngannou for three years,” stated a frustrated Aspinall via his YouTube channel.
“Like, don’t be surprised, this guy always takes fights where he’s got the advantage.”
Aspinall is in NYC as the backup fighter for the UFC 309 main event, and as he walked around the Big Apple, sent one final message ‘Bones’ way: “Jon, if you’re not into gambling your legacy, that to me sounds like you’re scared of losing against me.”
UFC 309 goes down on Saturday, November 16 live from Madison Square Garden.