Randy Couture to Jon Jones: If You’re the GOAT ‘Step Up and Fight’ Francis Ngannou or Tom Aspinall
MMA legend and multi-time UFC champion Randy Couture says that it’s time that Jon Jones stepped up to the real challenges of the heavyweight division. Francis Ngannou and Tom Aspinall were both ducked by the current heavyweight champion.
Randy Couture
The Natural’ Randy Couture is a five-time UFC champion having collected titles in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. He is best known for his rivalries against fighters such as Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, and Tim Sylvia.
Despite the Olympic wrestler being a trailblazer in the sport, he is on the UFC’s naughty list as he was constantly clashing with the brass on his rights and contractual disputes. In the 2000s, he walked away from the UFC to pursue a fight against the all-time great heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko as the UFC refused to co-promote with the organizations that had the contract of Fedor.
Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou or Tom Aspinall
‘Bones’ Jon Jones vacated his light heavyweight title after having an all-time great career running through the division. He then moved to heavyweight and captured the throne and later defended it against the aged Stipe Miocic while avoiding the interim champion Tom Aspinall. Additionally, while Francis Ngannou was the UFC heavyweight champion, Jon Jones refused to step up the heavyweight at that time instead he chose to wait until the Cameroonian fighter had left the organization.
Enough is enough according to Randy Couture. According to him, Jon Jones must face Aspinall or Ngannou for the sake of his legacy even if it requires co-promotion. In a recent interview with talkSPORT, Couture said:
“That was certainly the fight I pursued for a long time—to fight Fedor. It never happened. I think that that conversation, obviously, we’re still having it right now. And Jon Jones—as much as he doesn’t wanna fight Francis—is gonna have trouble avoiding that. Now he says he didn’t wanna fight Tom. I mean, why? You’re supposedly the GOAT. Step up and fight whoever they want you to fight.
“I’m not in Jon’s head, so I couldn’t tell you. I think, you know, he needs to step up and fight the guys they want him to fight. You can’t shy away from guys, anybody, honestly. So, I mean, that’s a challenge. But certainly, Tom has earned—earned a crack and deserves that. Whether Francis—and they do a co-promotion or cross-promotion—that, you know, that’s something that… our sport is still very anti-competitive.
“There’s no transparency in the sport. There’s no way to do those types of cross-promotions.The restrictive nature of the contracts in the promotions themselves prevents that. That’s why the Fedor fight never happened. One wanted to do a co-promotion with the UFC, and the UFC wasn’t willing to do that. I don’t think their attitude on co-promotion has changed. So that will be a big challenge—to see Francis get in there with Jon or Tom, if Tom beats Jon.”
Francis Ngannou currently holds the lineal UFC titles as he left the organization without losing the crown. He then competed in blockbuster boxing matches and picked up the PFL heavyweight title.
Couture is currently in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia part of the broadcast team for PFL 10 2024 on November 29 which features the tournament final bouts.
