Daniel Cormier is among those watching on as his former division continues to have two champions, Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall, who are yet to square off in the Octagon.
Their heavyweight unification fight was unconventionally not the immediate port of call when ‘Bones’ returned from an injury. Instead, Jones faced and defeated Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November 2024.
As Aspinall waits for a shot at turning his interim gold into undisputed status, both he and the MMA masses appear to be getting frustrated.
UFC CEO Dana White says Jones vs. Aspinall will happen, but that hasn’t eased the anger of fans who believe the American fighter is avoiding the matchup out of fear.
One of Jones’ former opponents wouldn’t use such a term, but he does believe a “worry” exists in the mind of the GOAT contender.
Daniel Cormier says Jon Jones is concerned about becoming one of Tom Aspinall’s highlights
During a video recently uploaded to his YouTube channel, Cormier outlined his latest thoughts on the heavyweight title picture.
Despite his animosity towards Jones, stemming from their storied bad-blood rivalry, ‘DC’ rejected any suggestion that ‘Bones’ is scared of Aspinall.
But Cormier did theorize that concern over being seen knocked out for the first time is causing Jones to delay his decision on fighting the young interim champion.
“I don’t know that [Jones] has gone through anyone like Aspinall, because Aspinall’s so big and young,” Cormier said. “That might be his only hesitancy.
“If I had to guess, I don’t think for a second Jon Jones is afraid of Tom Aspinall. The one thing Jon Jones has avoided that none of the other of us have is that visual of him getting finished.
“Even the great Islam Makhachev got knocked out before. There’s a visual of him getting knocked out. Jones has been able to avoid that for a very, very long time; over the course of three generations of fighters.
“But there just might be a guy right now that seems to worry him a little bit more than most.”
Jon Jones’ recent focus was on Daniel Cormier, not Tom Aspinall
Jones and Cormier have appeared somewhat cordial with one another in recent years. That’s been a far cry from the peak of their rivalry — an infamous brawl during a 2014 press conference.
But some remarks from ‘Bones’ during an interview with Geoffrey Woo might have revived the hostility.
“Peak ‘Bones’ vs. peak ‘DC’ at heavyweight?” Jones said. “I believe I beat Daniel Cormier at heavyweight worse than I beat him at light heavyweight.
“I feel like my speed has transferred over in a way that his hasn’t. I think I beat him up pretty worse at heavyweight.
“I kick harder. I punch harder as a heavyweight, but I kick a lot harder. They’ve seen what my kicks did to him [in] the first fight.”
The retired heavyweight has since responded, with Cormier advising Jones to focus on Aspinall instead of their history.