Vitor Belfort doesn’t want to see Jon Jones put his legacy at risk against Tom Aspinall.
For more than a year, fans have been chomping at the bit to see Jones, the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion, face Aspinall, the interim heavyweight titleholder, in a unification clash. Traditionally, that’s exactly what would happen when you have two titleholders in a single division. Unfortunately, the fight has not yet happened, nor has it even been announced.
Much of that appears to have to do with Jon Jones continuously dragging his feet, lobbying for a fight with Alex Pereira before telling the world that he’d want at least six months to train for a showdown with the Brit.
While everyone is still holding out hope that the promotion eventually succeeds in booking the biggest heavyweight fight of all time, Belfort believes it’s a bad idea for ‘Bones’ altogether.
“Jon Jones is… at a point where he can pick who he wants to fight,” Belfort told Helen Yee. “Fighting for the title, maybe that’s not his passion anymore. I recommend now super fights for him. Fights that are going to make him want to fight. He doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone. I would like to see him walk away the way he is.
“I don’t want to see him losing the fight. Some people want to see him lose; I want to see Jon Jones walk away like… some guys walk away undefeated. For me, it’s hard to see. I don’t want… It’s a risk fight for him. Aspinall is a risk fight for him. I don’t recommend that fight for him. I like Jon Jones, so that’s why. Jon, you know I like you. I just want to see you do some fun fights. You did everything you could.”
Fighting Tom Aspinall won’t hurt Jon Jones’ legacy, but not fighting almost certainly will
With wins over a slew of light heavyweight legends and a dominant third-round TKO over consensus UFC heavyweight GOAT Stipe Miocic in November, it’s safe to say that Jones’ legacy is solidified. A loss against Aspinall likely wouldn’t change that.
However, refusing to fight the interim champion altogether would almost certainly tarnish Jones’ legacy, leaving many with the lasting memory not of his many wins, but of the man he was too afraid to fight.
