UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall didn’t want to spend too much time responding to Jon Jones.
Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) accused Aspinall of looking for a way out when he couldn’t continue in his title fight against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 after getting poked in the eye. Their bout was ruled a no contest, and Aspinall is yet to be cleared by doctors to train. He said he may require surgery on both eyes.
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Not only did Jones call Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) a quitter, he made reference to his past losses by accusing him of looking for a way out in those fights, too.
“Yeah, good for him man,” Aspinall said of Jones on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “Good for him. I thought this guy was the GOAT? Focus on yourself, bro. You’re retired. Just do your own thing. If you’re so much better than everybody else, just go and enjoy yourself. Don’t worry about what I’m doing. I was trying to get a fight with him and I realized that’s not going to happen. But Jon’s just doing some damage to himself out there, so I’ll let him do his thing.”
Aspinall spent over a year trying to get a title-unification bout with Jones before Jones opted to relinquish his belt and retire. He defended his interim belt in the meantime with a quick TKO of Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 and has since been promoted to undisputed champion. The promotion’s plan is to rebook Aspinall vs. Gane once Aspinall is cleared.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC champ Tom Aspinall responds to Jon Jones calling him a quitter
