Dana White confident Jon Jones will fight Tom Aspinall if he retains heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic: “I personally think Jon challenges himself”
UFC CEO Dana White believes Jon Jones will push ahead with fighting Tom Aspinall if he can get through Stipe Miocic.
As we know, the UFC heavyweight champion ‘Bones’ looks set to return later this year. When he does, he’ll defend the belt against former champion – and heavyweight GOAT – Stipe Miocic.
In the eyes of many, though, it should be interim champion Tom Aspinall getting the shot. The Englishman is coming off the back of a resounding win over Curtis Blaydes that cemented his status as the true number one contender.
Dana White, meanwhile, believes that Jones will be hungry to step up and battle Aspinall if he can defeat Miocic.
White backs Jones again
“Jon is one of those challenging guys to deal with,” White told MMA Junkie and other reporters. “I think he’s talking about retiring, but will he if the Aspinall thing is really flying out there? I personally think Jon challenges himself and takes the fight. I think he does it.”
“Jon was tweeting today saying he was going to retire. Is that what he did?” White said. “… It’s always the same dealing with Jon. You were talking about Francis earlier. I have zero animosity toward Francis. Francis was out of my world a long time ago. (Hunter) and Mick are another story. It’s a long story. That dude (Hunter) did everything he could in his power to make Jon Jones vs. Francis. The fight did not happen and let me tell you what. It wasn’t because of Jon Jones. So Jon is a very unique individual to deal with. Jon Jones will fight everybody.
“Jon Jones was absolutely positively… he wanted Francis. You saw what happened with Ciryl Gane. He will tell you, like he told us, that he would do the same thing to Francis Ngannou. He wanted that fight so bad. … Dislike him, whatever your beef is with Jon Jones, knock yourself out. There’s no way Jon Jones doesn’t want to fight Aspinall. That, I guarantee you. I guarantee you. … I believe Jon Jones-Aspinall happens if he beats Stipe.”
Quotes via MMA Junkie
How do you believe this will play out? Let us know, BJPENN Nation!
