Daniel Cormier isn’t buying Jon Jones’ lack of desire to fight as the reason for him snubbing Tom Aspinall.
On Thursday, the UFC heavyweight champion insisted that a fight with the interim titleholder doesn’t ‘excite me’ as he distanced himself from the matchup.
Jon Jones also angled for a clash with Francis Ngannou in the same interview, which also saw the greatest fighter of all time suggest he’ll take a break from MMA until the ‘fire’ comes back.
Now his bitter rival, Daniel Cormier, has shared some thoughts on the bizarre situation.
Daniel Cormier explains why Jon Jones is ducking Tom Aspinall
The former dual-weight champion, who lost twice against peak Jones, believes that his old rival is at a point in his career where he doesn’t see a route to victory against the heavy-handed Englishman.
“There’s never been someone like this,” Cormier insisted.
“Let me tell you why it’s never been someone like Aspinall, because of the way the rules have changed. If this was Jon Jones at 28 years old, no worry for him, and Aspinall would not be the biggest threat to him.
“The reason Aspinall is the biggest threat to him today is because Jones is 38 years old. Because he’s lived a life of excess, partying, living, doing all those things that back in the day got him into trouble.
“Aspinall’s the biggest threat today because the roles have reversed. At 28 years old, Jon would’ve seen Tom a million times over and fought him already.
“But Jon, at 38, recognizes that this dude is a little better. He’s not afraid. He just doesn’t want to get knocked out. Jon Jones prefers to let his legacy stay as is with the caveat that he didn’t fight Tom Aspinall, didn’t run the risk of fighting Tom Aspinall and getting beat by Tom Aspinall.
“That’s where the difference lies. That’s where the worry comes from. That’s why we’re seeing a man say ‘this guy doesn’t really excite me’ when in reality, it’s exciting. But it’s also very scary.”
Dana White sets fight deadline
UFC CEO Dana White has stuck by Jon Jones throughout the Tom Aspinall saga.
However, it now appears that even he is losing patience with the biggest star on his roster.
White recently set a definitive deadline for Jones vs Aspinall after months of negotiations.
“We’ll see how this thing plays out over the next couple of weeks. If we can’t get this fight done, we’ll move on quickly. We’ll have the answers in the next couple of weeks,” the MMA mogul told Jim Rome.
“Jon Jones has been an interesting human being to deal with since the day he got here. But I’ll say this about him: I wouldn’t be out here calling him the GOAT if Jon Jones didn’t want to fight people.
“He’s never said, ‘I don’t like this fight for me, I don’t want to fight this guy’. Not one time.”