One of Jon Jones’s former foes doesn’t know how to feel about his potential UFC comeback.
UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones remains in active negotiations with the brass to fight interim titleholder Tom Aspinall in a heavyweight unification bout later this year. But while all signs point to a likely booking, not everyone is all-in on the Jones vs. Aspinall showdown.
After Jones defeated former heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic in his first title defense at UFC 309, attention turned towards potentially making the Aspinall fight come to fruition. But six months later, there are still more questions than answers surrounding the heavyweight division’s title picture.
While Aspinall and Jones have recently teased positive fight news forthcoming, including Jones showing off his fight poster wall, Jones’s potential return to the Octagon isn’t a foregone conclusion. And in the meantime, one of Jones’s former rivals questions if he should follow through with one last hurrah inside the cage.
Rashad Evans has some concerns with Jon Jones’s potential comeback to fight Tom Aspinall
During a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Rashad Evans admitted he has mixed feelings over a Jones comeback.
“Here’s the thing I’m kind of torn about it,” Evans said. “I feel like the part of me, the fan side of me definitely wants to see it. I want to see it for sure. But the other part of me who’s like very impressed with what Jon Jones is able to do, want to see him go out on top and not even have to [fight again].
“Because there’s the thing about it, there’s always going to be somebody. He beats Tom Aspinall, people [will say] yeah, there’s this new guy. There’s always going to be that last dragon to vanquish. Part of me can respect him for not taking the fight, but another part of me is just like man, you better step the f— up and beat this boy. I’m kind of mixed about it to be honest.”
Evans went on to question Jones’s motivations for a last hurrah in the Octagon against the upstart Aspinall.
“I don’t know Jon Jones now and I don’t know if there’s a part of him that needs this in a way,” Evans said of Jones. “There’s sometimes that you can be in something for so long that it just becomes so much a part of who you are, rediscovering yourself in a different frame outside of it is maybe not something that you’re ready to explore, and maybe not something you’re ready to give up.”
Jones and Evans fought in the former’s third light heavyweight title defense at UFC 145, with Jones coasting to a unanimous decision win. Before their fight, Jones and Evans were good friends and longtime teammates at Jackson-Wink MMA in New Mexico, before Evans left the gym in a messy divorce.
Leading up to Jones’s most recent win over Miocic, Jones teased a potential super fight against then-UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira over the Aspinall bout. But after Pereira lost to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313, the Jones vs. Pereira fight was removed from the conversation.
Tom Aspinall earned unwanted record amidst Jon Jones title fight wait
Aspinall recently became the UFC’s longest-reigning interim champion, stemming from his short-notice knockout win over Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295. He defended the interim title by finishing Curtis Blaydes inside one round at UFC 304 last July.
Tensions between Jones and Aspinall have skyrocketed in recent months as negotiations remain in a holding pattern. But Aspinall recently hinted he was ‘sworn to secrecy’ about a potential fight announcement after meeting with UFC CBO Hunter Campbell in London earlier this year.
As the wait continues for Jones vs. Aspinall, the debate over how the fight will play out rages on. But Evans, who has a long history with Jones with plenty of ups and downs, wonders how he’d handle the current situation if he were in Jones’s position.