Tom Aspinall has made Henry Cejudo lose interest in Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic.
Heavyweight champion Jones was scheduled to make his first title defense against Miocic this past Saturday at UFC 295, but the bout was scrapped when Jones tore his pectoral muscle. The promotion opted to book Aspinall vs. Sergei Pavlovich for the interim title, a fight in which Aspinall claimed gold by first-round knockout.
With Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) looking so impressive, Cejudo is ready to see him fight Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) next.
“A Tom Aspinall like that, who is able to do that to somebody like Sergei who only has one loss, 19 (15) knockouts, it says a lot,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. “What’s next for a guy like Tom Aspinall? How will he do against a guy like Jon Jones? How will he do against a guy like Stipe Miocic? Only time will tell. I personally think I like this fight better now for Jon Jones, and that’s Tom Aspinall vs. Jon Jones.
“I like that better than the Stipe fight. I’m jumping ship. Why? Because this fight, the Jones/Stipe saga, has gone on for several years now that I’ve lost interest. But that new kid on the block, Tom Aspinall, that people are super high about, that has knockout power, that has agility – he reminds me of Ciryl Gane but with bigger power. He’s dangerous. He is super, super dangerous.”
Tom Aspinall responds to Jon Jones' praise of his #UFC295 interim title win.
"Just give me the opportunity, Jon. … Give me my dream fight." pic.twitter.com/SIRUIT3w4R
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) November 12, 2023
Aspinall called for Jones after his win. However, UFC CEO Dana White previously said that the plan is to rebook Jones vs. Miocic when Jones returns from injury, with the winner hopefully fighting Aspinall.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
