Paddy Pimblett has begrudgingly backed Jon Jones to beat Tom Aspinall, despite wanting his fellow Brit to get the job done.
Pimblett and Aspinall are close friends, and recently fought together on the UFC 304 card in Manchester. However, the Scouse fighter understands that it is always unwise to bet against Jones, who for all intents and purposes is undefeated save for a bizarre disqualification loss in his early career.
Now, an aging Jones faces a stiff test in the surging Aspinall, who has yet to get out of the second round in his UFC career. However, Pimblett is sticking with his decision to back the American after years of watching him as a fan.
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Paddy Pimblett backs Jon Jones to beat Tom Aspinall in heavyweight super-fight
After initially telling the Full Send Podcast that he believes Jon Jones will beat Tom Aspinall, Paddy Pimblett was asked about the fight again at a recent fan Q&A in Liverpool. He noted that while he is friends with his fellow Brit, you simply can’t bet against Jones given his record.
“I love Aspinall, he’s my mate and all that,” Pimblett answered. “But I can just never pick against Jon Jones, we’ve never seen him get beat and I think now if anyone’s going to beat him it is Aspinall, Aspinall could just knock him out with his hands – clean out.
“But I’d just never pick against Jon Jones, I’ve been watching him since he became champ when I was a kid. Since I started watching the UFC in like 2009-2010, I was watching him before he won the belt even watching live when he got disqualified for the 12-6 elbows.
“That’s how long I’ve been watching Jon Jones and it’s just the way he game plans. He finds a way to beat someone and he works on that exact thing and how to beat them. But if anyone is going to beat him it’s Aspinall.”
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Before Pimblett’s prediction takes any credence, however, the fight will need to be made. This appears to be the difficult part, with Jones seemingly doing anything but signing up to face Aspinall in a world title unification.
The two-weight champion insists that he has ‘told UFC his plans’, but they don’t seem to have made their way to his interim champion. It is unclear if the Brit will have to take yet another fight in the meantime just to stay active, or if Jones will eventually sign up and fight him.
One fan petition begging the UFC to strip Jones of his title has earned tens of thousands of signatures. In response, Jones simply mocked those signing up and refused to give up his belt, while he insists he isn’t fully retired.