Dominick Reyes gets why Jon Jones prefers not to fight Tom Aspinall.
Heavyweight champion Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) insists on having his fight with Stipe Miocic rebooked after he was forced to withdraw from their originally scheduled bout at UFC 295 in November due to a torn pectoralis tendon.
Interim heavyweight champion Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) was chomping at the bit to unify his belt with Jones, but Jones appeared disinterested. Reyes, who arguably gave Jones the toughest test of his career in their light heavyweight title fight in February 2020, can relate to Aspinall.
“I completely understand where Jon is coming from,” Reyes told Middle Easy. “Jon is Jon Jones. Say his name anywhere in the world and people recognize it. Fighting Tom is a risk management thing. It’s almost the same reason why he didn’t rematch me, kind of thing: It’s too dangerous and not enough payoff. Tom is an excellent fighter.”
Jones has hinted on multiple occasions that Miocic could be his last fight. If that is indeed the case, Reyes thinks fighting Aspinall wouldn’t make sense for Jones.
“Tom is very similar to myself, but he’s a heavyweight,” Reyes said. “That’s super dangerous. He moves extremely well, he’s very quick, his wrestling is really good, his grappling is good, his power is off the charts.
“How is that going to benefit Jon? Beating the most recent champion? No, let’s fight the greatest heavyweight of all time, Stipe Miocic. Is he not the greatest with his defenses? One of the greatest of all time, an active great. Jon is a great himself, so he’s going to fight another active great.”
