Paddy Pimblett stuns fans with bold Jon Jones vs Tom Aspinall prediction
Pimblett was quick to offer his verdict on the fight amid talks of a potential heavyweight dust-up between the stars at some point this year
UFC lightweight star Paddy Pimblett is backing Jon Jones to defeat his compatriot Tom Aspinall amid talks of a potential fight. A lifelong fan of Jones, the Scouse fighter did state that Aspinall has what it takes to dethrone the heavyweight king, but he cannot bring himself to bet against 'Bones'.
It has been nearly a year since fans have last seen Aspinall inside the cage. The Brit won the interim title against Sergei Pavlovich back in 2023 before successfully defending it last July against Curtis Blaydes.
Since claiming the undisputed strap after beating Ciryl Gane two years ago, Jones has only defended his title once - a knockout victory over Stipe Miocic last November. Following the win in New York, 'Bones' has been tipped to face the Wigan warrior next, but nothing has yet been finalised.
That said, UFC chief Dana White is optimistic about finalising the details, leading fight fans and fighters everywhere to speculate on the outcome. Weighing in during a UFC fan event in Liverpool, Pimblett said: "I love Aspinall, me lad, he's my mate and that, but I can never pick against Jon Jones because we've never seen him get beat.
"I think now, if anyone's going to beat him, it is Aspinall. Aspinall could just knock him out and come out with his hands and knock him clean out. But I've never picked against Jon Jones. I've been watching Jon Jones since he became champ when I was a kid, know what I mean?
"Since I started watching the UFC in like 2009, 2010, I've been watching Jon Jones since then, even before he won the belt. I can remember watching the fight live when he got disqualified for the 12-to-6 elbows.
"That's how long I've been watching Jon Jones. It's just the way he game plans. He finds a way to beat someone, and he works on that exact thing on how to beat them. If anyone's going to beat him, it's Aspinall."
In a recent chat with UFC legend Demetrious Johnson, Aspinall confessed that the ongoing delays have taken a greater mental toll than his career-threatening injury. Back in 2022, during his first encounter with Blaydes, the match ended tragically within seconds as Aspinall sustained a severe knee injury, which kept him out of action for over a year.
The 32-year-old has since spoken about the mental strain of being sidelined for such an extended period. "It was obviously devastating to get injured in front of everybody and stuff. But anyway, it was a tough time for me. Came back, took me a year with the rehab... So it was a tough couple of months mentally.
"But I always had a little goal to work towards. Now, I've been almost a year inactive with no prospect of anything apart from wait. So now is actually a little bit more of a tricky time for me mentally than it was then. I constantly had little goals to work towards, whereas now it's like, 'Right, just be ready and we'll let you know', it's kind of difficult mentally."
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