Jon Jones claims he isn’t pulling any strings amid the ongoing debacle at the top of the UFC’s heavyweight division, but former middleweight champ Michael Bisping isn’t buying it.
It’s been more than two years since ‘Bones’ captured the heavyweight title. Since then, he’s defended the belt once against a past-his-prime Stipe Miocic, completely looking over Tom Aspinall, who had been the interim heavyweight champion for a year by the time Jones finally notched his first and only defense.
‘The Count’ calls out Jon jones
During a recent rant on social media, Jones took absolutely no responsibility for holding up an entire division, seemingly placing the blame on the UFC and suggesting that the delays have “nothing to do with” him.
“Jon Jones got on Twitter and he was tweeting up a storm,” Bisping said while discussing the ongoing Jon Jones saga on his YouTube channel. Here’s what he had to say regarding everyone saying that he’s ducking Tom Aspinall and stuff like that. He said, ‘I spoke to the UFC a long time ago about what my future plans are. I haven’t really worked out since my last fight in New York City. Honestly, I believe it’s in the UFC’s best interest to keep presenting me as the company’s champion, not Tom.’
“And then he goes on to say, ‘I’ve just been playing the role of the company man by doing nothing at all and holding all the position, and truthfully, it’s been incredibly lucrative. I’ve made more money off of Tom being the interim champ than Tom has himself. It sucks to see the rest of the division get slowed down like this, but that has nothing to do with me. I don’t pull the strings.’
“Well, it does have everything to do with you, Jon. You are the champion and you’re the guy that should fight, that should defend or vacate.”
Tom Aspinall is the longest-reigning interim champion in UFC history, surpassing Renan Barao’s previous record of 534 days. Unfortunately, there is seemingly no end in sight as ‘Bones’ continues to pass the buck and take no accountability for his actions, or lack thereof.
