Francis Ngannou’s coach has offered Tom Aspinall some tips ahead of his potential unification fight with Jon Jones.
The UFC heavyweight champion sensationally defended his title for the first time when he knocked out Stipe Miocic with a spinning back kick to the stomach at UFC 309 on Saturday night.
Talk immediately talked to a unification fight with Tom Aspinall, who has held the interim heavyweight title since sleeping Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 in November 2023.
Eric Nicksick is the head coach of Francis Ngannou and a bunch of other elite-level fighters. Aspinall isn’t one of his students, but the two men have still been discussing a potential game plan to defeat Jon Jones.
Erick Nicksick breaks down Jon Jones vs Tom Aspinall
Naturally, Nicksick believes his star pupil is the toughest opponent for Jones, but with a cross-promotion fight off the table, he believes Aspinall could become the first man to legitimately beat the 37-year-old MMA legend.
The only mark on Jones’ record is a DQ defeat to Matt Hamill. During their 2009 fight, he was adjudged to have landed a 12-6 elbow, which was recently been made legal amid calls for Jones to have his lone loss overturned.
“The toughest competition has got to be Francis,” Nicksick told The Schmo.
“That’s an argument that I think sucks because there’s nothing we can do about it right now… The toughest competition right now that makes sense is Tom Aspinall because they’re both in the same promotion.
“His footwork and feet. That was the thing that jumped off the page to me the most in working with Tom, his ability to be able to switch stances in the heavyweight division that is not normally doing the things he can do.
“Also, he’s very smart, he understands the game. When you talk to him, he also understands that he’s fighting in the heavyweight division where at any moment somebody could put your lights out. So, he’s constantly trying to leverage his best ability against his opponent’s worst.
“I actually talked to Tom on Monday. We were kind of going back and forth on some of the game-planning things.
“You can’t be in that range and just kind of get snake-charmed by Jon. Let him grab your hands, let him dictate the pace and dictate the rhythm. You have to be hyper-aggressive in those positions and I think that is what Tom would have to do in that fight.”
Tom Aspinall reveals talks are ongoing
Jon Jones has publicly stated his preference to fight Alex Pereira instead of Tom Aspinall, but he’s willing to agree to the matchup for ‘f*** you’ money.
According to the Englishman, negotiations have already begun for the 2025 fight that Dana Whtie thinks could replace Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Conor McGregor as the biggest in company history.
“Yeah, we’re in negotiations right now. That’s the honest answer.” Tom Aspinall said on his YouTube channel.
“So, we don’t know when the fight is going to be, but I’ll be ready to go whenever. I’m back in the gym now. I’m back in the gym training, as always.”
“I’ll be ready to fight when they let me know. Until then, I’ll be improving, I’ll be getting better.
“So, no great rush on that. Obviously, I want to fight as soon as possible. But, right now, we’re just waiting on a date. That’s it.”