Dan Hardy believes one of Jon Jones’ accomplishments could be in the back of Tom Aspinall‘s mind ahead of the UFC 321 main event against Ciryl Gane.
First things first, Hardy is very clear in his prediction on how the heavyweight championship fight at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi will unfold. Hardy doesn’t see it as a competitive fight in the slightest.
“I think this is a bad matchup for Ciryl Gane – and I like Ciryl,” Hardy said on his YouTube channel. “I like his game and I like the style he has in the heavyweight division, because it’s very different. But I feel like the advantages Ciryl has against most heavyweights, he doesn’t have against Tom, and Tom’s also got the punching power and the ground game to beat him. I think Tom is gonna clean his clock. I think it’s gonna be one-sided.”
Aspinall, who held and defended the interim title, was elevated to undisputed status when Jon Jones decided to hang up the gloves. Should Aspinall get the jon done against Gane on Saturday, Hardy believes Jones will still be a topic of conversation after the fight. Not because of the potential Aspinall vs. Jones fight, but there’s a different angle Hardy sees on the horizon.
“The only thing I will say about it, bless Ciryl, is I don’t think it’s gonna be as one-sided as Ciryl vs. Jon Jones,” Hardy said. “So, what I’m expecting after this is, ‘Ahh, you didn’t beat him as fast as Jon did.’ And I don’t know if that’s playing on the back of Tom’s mind: How long does he have to beat him?”
Jones needed 2:04 to submit Gane at UFC 285 to win the vacant title. It was the first and only time Gane has suffered a stoppage loss in his career. However, if anyone could finish him again, Aspinall certainly has the ability – and can do it quickly.
Aspinall has finished his last three opponents in the span of 60 to 73 seconds each. The longest fight of his UFC career was 3:45.
“I also do think that Tom could beat Jon Jones’ finish of Ciryl,” Hardy said. “I think Tom could knock him out in a minute.”
