“Prove You’re the GOAT” – Curtis Blaydes Fires Back at Jon Jones: Beat Aspinall First
Curtis Blaydes doesn’t think Jon Jones is the heavyweight GOAT, but he could be. He just needs to man up and fight Tom Aspinall.
In November, ‘Bones’ defended his UFC heavyweight title for the first time, handily defeating Stipe Miocic in a fight that was more about legacy than anything else.
With that out of the way, attention has moved to a long-awaited unification clash between Jones and Aspinall, the promotion’s interim heavyweight champion.
Thus far, no date, location, or venue has been announced for the fight, but Dana White is aiming to book the bout sometime this summer. Unfortunately, that all hinges on Jones’ willingness to sign on the dotted line which remains a sore subject for fight fans and Aspinall, who recently accused ‘Bones’ of dragging his feet during negotiations.
Blaydes insists Jon Jones is not the heavyweight GOAT … But he could be
Ahead of his return to the Octagon this Saturday night at UFC 313 in Las Vegas, Blaydes made it clear that, in his eyes, Jon Jones may be the greatest fighter of all time, but he’s not the best heavyweight in UFC history. Nor will he be until he actually shows up and gives fans the fight they want to see.
And, you know, win the fight. That’s important too.
“We don’t. I don’t believe we do. Those weren’t real tests,” Blaydes told MMA Fighting in reference to Jones’ first two appearances at heavyweight. “Those aren’t… I’m not going to say he can be the GOAT, but not the GOAT of heavyweight. I’m not saying he’s the GOAT of heavyweight right now. Even though he beat him, I still give it to Stipe because when he was at his brightest, he was special.
“But I was also like, what, five years ago? Six years ago? So, the only way for Jon to earn my respect—and I know he doesn’t care about earning my respect—but the only way for me to say, “Yeah, this dude’s the heavyweight GOAT,” is for him to beat Aspinall. You’ve got to fight the best to be the best.”
After coming up short against Aspinall at UFC 304, ‘Razor’ will look to climb back into the win column when he meets Russian knockout artist Rizvan Kuniev this weekend.
Kuniev makes his Octagon debut unbeaten in his last 12 fights, including two wins on Dana White’s Contender Series and appearances in Eagle FC and the PFL.
