Can Tom Aspinall Beat Jon Jones?
Can Tom Aspinall Beat Jon Jones?
By Tim Burke November 18, 2024 14:05
Jon Jones successfully defended his title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309. Saturday's fight against Miocic was only Jones's third in the 2020s. The biggest thing for Jones in this fight was that he reminded everyone how good he was. Jones's fight IQ is exceptional, and the breakdown of a gladiator such as Stipe Miocic was impressive. Arguing against Jones as the greatest MMA fighter of all time is difficult.
Yet, for the better part of a year, MMA fans worldwide have believed Tom Aspinall is the man to defeat Jon Jones. Why is that? Can Tom Aspinall beat Jon Jones? Jones's performance on Saturday may have caused some doubt. However, It did not phase Tom Aspinall.
"The fight, in all honesty, went exactly the way I thought it was going to go. Stipe essentially was running at him with basic boxing techniques and, in all honesty, was too slow and old to land the shots," Aspinall told UFC on TNT Sports following UFC 309.
A lot of stock has been put into Jon Jones's comment stating he does not want to fight Tom Aspinall. Many have accused Jones of ducking Tom Aspinall.
"He's annoying to me. And that's my own personal; he annoys me. I get to you guys. You find it entertaining, but I find him annoying, and I just don't like him. At the end of the day, if I allow him to fight me. I want to be so compensated. My life is perfect without him. I don't need him at all, and he needs me, and that is a good place to be in a negotiation." Jon Jones told reporters about his win at UFC 309.
The last part of his quote suggests that a more likely scenario is that Jon Jones is promoting the fight by dissing Tom Aspinall and will fight him, but he wants more money. But for argument's sake, what about Tom Aspinall, who would worry arguably the greatest of all time?
Jon Jones has a terrific fight IQ. It is hard to deny that he does not possess the best fight IQ MMA has ever seen. Why is that? He studies video.
"I study everyone extensively, and then I come up with their patterns. I figure out the way they flinch. I figured out their first favorite punch, second favorite punch, and third favorite combinations and set up their takedowns. When they clinch, what side is their head going to be? Literally everything. I know everything about every opponent." Jon Jones stated on the Joe Rogan Experience.
If and when Jon Jones sits down and begins to study Tom Aspinall's patterns, Jones will have a limited amount of material to work with. Tom Aspinall's average fight time of two minutes and two seconds is the shortest in UFC history. He has nine career fights in the UFC. Tom Aspinall has fought past the first round only once in his UFC career against Andrei Arlovski. Aspinall submitted Arlovski one minute and nine seconds into the second round.
Six of Aspinall's eight UFC wins have come by knockout. Jon Jones is an elite grappler. If his game plan is to grapple with Tom Aspinall, he could be in for a surprise. Aspinall won the British Open in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in all belt classes except the black belt. His father is a Ji-Jitsu coach for Team Kaobon. He followed in his father's footsteps and became a ji-jitsu coach at the family-owned gym Aspinall Brazilian Ji-Jitsu. Aspinall's power and speed are much better than everyone else at heavyweight, which leads him to knock people out almost immediately. Still, Aspinall has so many weapons we have not seen because he is powerful and fast in the stand-up game. Aspinall is a Brazillian Ji-Jitsu coach with a catch wrestling background who happens to be the fastest and hardest-hitting heavyweight in the UFC. He is a well-rounded fighter and a mystery to his opponents due to his lack of fight time in the UFC. Tom Aspinall may have never seen a fighter quite like Jon Jones, but Jon Jones has never faced a fighter quite like Tom Aspinall, which is why this is the biggest fight the UFC can make in 2025.
LATEST
- NEWS
- |
- ARTICLES
- |
- VIDEOS
FAN ARCH PODCAST NETWORK
