UFC 309: Jon Jones Hints at Vacating Heavyweight Title, Leaving Tom Aspinall Just One Step from the Top
Jon Jones has no qualms about vacating the undisputed heavyweight title — especially if it gets him closer to a BMF fight with reigning 205-pound king Alex Pereira.
UFC 309 will see ‘Bones’ put his heavyweight title on the line for the first time since scoring a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it submission victory over Ciryl Gane 20 months ago. This time around, Jones will attempt to both keep his belt and add to his already undeniable legacy when he meets the only two-time titleholder in heavyweight history, Stipe Miocic.
As it stands, Jones’ victory over Miocic almost feels like a foregone conclusion with sportsbooks like DraftKings having ‘Bones’ favored by a greater-than 6-to-1 margin. And it seems like everyone — ‘Bones’ included — is far more interested in what comes after his fight with Miocic instead of what will happen during it.
Recently, Jones frustrated some fight fans by suggested that win or lose, he never intends on doing the right thing and unifying his title with that of interim heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall.
Jon Jones thinks a fight with ‘Poatan’ makes much more sense
Jones seemingly doubled down on that statement by suggesting that he’d gladly vacate the heavyweight title for a fight with ‘Poatan’ before ever considering a scrap with Aspinall.
“It’d be cool to fight [Pereira] over the heavyweight championship, but I would also willingly give up the heavyweight championship,” Jones told SportsNet on Monday. “I walked away from the light heavyweight championship, and I’d love to walk away from this one as well on top, on [my] own terms, good head on your shoulders, making lots of money. I love the position that I’m in right now.
“Fighting Pereira for the ‘BMF’ [baddest motherf*cker] belt, that would be cool. We both have two belts in two weight classes, and the night we fought, we’d both be fighting for our third belt – which would be the ‘BMF.’ How cool would that be?” (h/t The Independant).
There’s no doubt that Jones vs. Pereira is an exciting idea and perhaps the biggest possible fight the UFC could make with Conor McGregor’s return to the Octagon looking less likely with each passing day. But is it the right thing to do?
More importantly, where does that leave Tom Aspinall?
