Daniel Cormier: Jon Jones Is ‘Quitting' Without Tom Aspinall Fight
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 16: Daniel Cormier looks on ahead of the UFC 309 event at Madison ... More Square Garden on November 16, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
The way former two-division UFC champ Daniel Cormier sees it, UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones will walk away from MMA as a quitter if he does not face interim UFC heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall in a title unification bout.
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - OCTOBER 22: Daniel Cormier is seen in the broadcast booth during ... More the UFC 280 event at Etihad Arena on October 22, 2022 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
"All this other stuff that's going on around the fight – I mean, you're talking about me, you're talking about Francis (Ngannou), you're talking about Chael (Sonnen), you're talking about all these things and almost ignoring the right thing," Cormier said on his YouTube channel. "The right thing is to go fight this kid. If you beat him, which is a real thing, and a real likely scenario, you can then stick it to everyone like you've done on so many occasions and tell 'em about it.
"Nothing feels better to a guy like Jon Jones to be able to beat the guy that you thought was going to get him, and then him going, 'What did I say to you?' It's sweeter than any title or anything else you can give this man, but he's gotta be willing to take that chance to go and fight this dude."
"Not everybody gets to retire – Jon Jones will get to retire from fighting, but if he doesn't fight this guy, then that's just him quitting," Cormier, who is now a UFC commentator added. "There's one real fight for him and he's not so old and washed up that he can't take it.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 08: UFC CEO Dana White holds a press conference after the UFC 313 event at ... More T-Mobile Arena on March 08, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
According to UFC CEO Dana White, UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones has agreed to face interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.
Speaking at the UFC 316 pst-fight press conference, White seemed taken aback when he was asked about Jones's recent social media posts that he was ready and willing to vacate the UFC heavyweight title.
"He said he's ready to vacate the belt? (Expletive) crazy," White said. "I've been busy. I haven't been keeping up with the gossip. He's either back today or came back yesterday or whenever. He was in Thailand. He's home. We'll be home tonight. Tuesday, we'll figure this out."
"Tom Aspinall's the guy. He's the guy. Listen, if [Jones] wants to retire and doesn't want to fight, nothing you can do,"added White. "I didn't want Khabib [Nurmagomedov] retire. I thought [Daniel] Cormier could have stayed it in longer. It's none of my business. I'll do what I can to make the fight if we can. If he's talking that crazy shit, I didn't realize that."
"It's definitely the process with Jon Jones," White said of the ongoing negotiations between the UFC and Jones. "I've been going through this since the day he started this. It's definitely the process. Him and Anderson Silva, every time throughout the history of being in business with those guys when it comes time to get them fights, it's like dealing with artists. It's interesting.
"It's Aspinall's fight. We've been talking to this kid forever about it and it's his fight. Listen, you can't make people fight. If Jon doesn't want to fight, you can't make him fight. We can try to make him fight. We can throw things at him that inspire him to want to fight but we'll figure it out."
"But yes, Jon agreed to fight Tom, fact," White added in closing.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - SEPTEMBER 17: Daniel Cormier reacts after seeing a cut on Gregory Rodrigues of ... More Brazil after a middleweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on September 17, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Cormier, who held the UFC heavyweight title between July 2018 and August 2019, said that if he were in the same spot Jones finds himself in today, that he would have already faced Aspinall in a title unification bout.
'... I can tell you guys on good authority, if I was still fighting today, and I was still the heavyweight champion, and Tom Aspinall was the No. 1 contender, I would have already fought him, 1,000 percent,' said Cormier. "The mindset that I carried throughout my fight career, knowing how dangerous, it would have done nothing but excite me to see someone standing across the octagon that could potentially beat me, or knock my ass out. That would make me train harder, smarter, and be more prepared than I ever could have been. That's what that would have done to me. What it's doing to Jon Jones is very disturbing and very hard for me to understand. Because, in my mind, this guy is a fighter. I've seen him do it time and time again. It's a very weird situation."
Cormier also held the UFC light heavyweight title. He faced Jones twice over his UFC career, losing to him via decision when Jones held the UFC 205-pound belt in 2015. In their rematch, which was during Cormier's title reign, Jones knocked out Cormier. However, the result was later changed to a no contest when Jones failed a drug test. As a result of that drug test failure, the title reverted to Cormier.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JULY 27: Tom Aspinall of England reacts after his knockout victory against ... More Curtis Blaydes in the interim UFC heavyweight championship bout during the UFC 304 event at Co-op Live on July 27, 2024 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Aspinall won the interim UFC heavyweight crown in November 2023 with a knockout victory over Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295. Aspinall took that fight on short notice when the original main event for that card, Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic for Jones's heavyweight title was scrapped following an injury to Jones.
Despite Aspinall winning the interim crown, UFC CEO Dana White remained steadfast in saying that Jones vs. Miocic was the fight to make.
That fight did not take place until November 2024. Jones held on to his belt that night, beating Miocic by TKO in the third round. By that time, Aspinall had already defended his interim crown, scoring a first-round knockout win over Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in July 2024.
Aspinall has been waiting for the title unification bout with Jones since Jones's win over Miocic in November. In late April, Miocic became the longest-serving UFC interim champion, topping the 535-day reign of Renan Barao, who defended his interim title twice before being named undisputed champion.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 16: Interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall looks on during the ... More UFC heavyweight championship fight during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Earlier this month, Aspinall seemed frustrated by how long it is taking to get a title unification bout booked, going so far as to declare that Jones has retired.
"Jon Jones is retired," Aspinall said. "I want to say God bless him moving forward in what he does with his life and career. We move on. I'm the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. I'm ready to take on all comers and get this division moving again.
"Those guys have been waiting around too long. The contenders are getting sick of it. Everybody's getting sick of it. Even the fans are getting sick of this stuff. So, Jon's retired and it's time that we move on.
"I'm the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. I'm ready to take on all comers, get this division moving again. Us guys have been waiting around too long. The guys, contenders are getting sick of it, everybody's getting sick of it, even the fans are getting sick of it. Jon's retired and it's time that we move on.'
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