Jon Jones took aim at Tom Aspinall after the British champion saw his first undisputed UFC title defence end in deflating fashion.
Aspinall’s heavyweight headliner with Ciryl Gane ended as a No Contest on Saturday, when Gane poked the champion in both eyes at the same time in the first round.
Aspinall, 32, was unable to keep competing, and the UFC 321 main event in Abu Dhabi was waved off, with the Wigan fighter soon taken to hospital.
And it did not take long for Jones, Aspinall’s predecessor as champion, to troll his rival.
Soon after the bout, Jones added an eye patch to his Instagram profile picture, which is a cartoon duck in reference to fans’ claims that the American “ducked” Aspinall over the last two years.
After Jones suffered an injury in late 2023, when he held the heavyweight title, Aspinall knocked out Sergei Pavlovich to win the interim belt. Twelve months later, Jones returned to face divisional legend Stipe Miocic instead of fighting Aspinall, who had made the rare decision to defend the interim title in July 2024. Jones and Aspinall both won their bouts via stoppage.
Aspinall was then strung along by Jones, 38, who eventually retired from mixed martial arts this summer, leading the UFC to elevate Aspinall to undisputed champion.
But the Briton’s first defence of the undisputed gold ended in unexpected fashion when Gane poked him in both eyes.
Many fans expected Jones to directly tease Aspinall over the incident, but he instead opted to make an indirect dig at the 32-year-old – while engaging with light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, who called out Jones on Saturday.
“Alex, I’d be down to bring the highest skill level to the White House,” wrote Jones on X (formerly Twitter). “I appreciate the respect you showed, let’s dance.”
Jones was referencing the UFC’s planned event on the South Lawn next summer, although UFC president Dana White previously said he could not trust Jones to compete on the card.
Some consider Jones the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, but his career has been tainted by numerous failed drug tests, run-ins with the law, and his saga with Aspinall. Coincidentally, Jones has a history of poking opponents in the eyes.
Aspinall, while interviewed in the cage before heading to hospital, said on Saturday: “I just got poked knuckled-deep in the eyeball. What the f***, why are you booing? What am I supposed to do about it? I didn’t do the poke, I can’t see!
“This is bulls***. The fight was just getting going. Look at this, a double eye poke,” he continued, motioning at a slow-motion replay on the big screen.
France’s Gane was also subjected to boos as he conducted his post-fight interview in the Octagon. “I’m very sorry about this,” he said, “for the crowd, for Tom Aspinall, for myself. This is the sport.”
Jones, a former two-time UFC light-heavyweight champion, submitted Gane, 35, in two minutes in 2023 to win the vacant heavyweight strap.
