Daniel Cormier applauds Tom Aspinall’s approach to recent Jon Jones banter: “It was easy to ignore him”

Daniel Cormier believes Tom Aspinall’s more aggressive approach to his banter with Jon Jones is smart.

Jones is expected to face former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic in his first heavyweight title defense in November. Jones, who won the then-vacant heavyweight belt at UFC 285, has remained insistent on facing Miocic over Aspinall next.

In the meantime, Aspinall defended his interim heavyweight title against Curtis Blaydes last month, earning a quick finish. He intends to await the Jones vs. Miocic winner if the UFC remains transfixed in moving in that direction next.

After defending the interim title, Aspinall has taken a more vocal approach to jabbing Jones on social media. He encouraged Jones to “hand him the belt on the way out” if he intended to retire after the Miocic fight.

Cormier thinks Aspinall is doing all the right things in attempting to change Jones’s mind on a potential fight.

Daniel Cormier explains why Tom Aspinall is winning banter with Jon Jones

During a recent episode of Funky and The Champ, Cormier praised Aspinall for his increasing jabs towards Jones.

“He’s getting more aggressive now as time goes on,” Cormier said. “The fact that he’s not being as respectful as he was before is a massive win for Tom Aspinall. Because before, it was easy to ignore him…

“I believe those guys should fight. But Jon seems, and I don’t know if he’s trolling, he really could be trolling. Because I don’t know Jon Jones to be openly saying ‘I’m just not fighting that guy’. That doesn’t seem to be his personality,” Cormier continued. “[Tom] could flat-out say ‘This man is afraid to fight me’, and people would draw to that like nothing you’ve seen before. And when he says that, openly say ‘I’ll be the backup fighter’.”

Jones and Cormier have plenty of tense history between them, stemming from their two clashes in the UFC light heavyweight division.

Aspinall has won three consecutive fights since an injury stoppage loss to Blaydes in 2022. He earned the interim heavyweight title by knocking out Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295.