After beating Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 on Saturday Tom Aspinall has his sights locked in on a fight with Jon Jones.
Interim Heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall defended his interim title this past weekend at UFC 304 in Manchester. The Greater Manchester-born Aspinall lit up the home crowd when he finished Curtis Blaydes in the first round.
This fight was a rematch 2 years after the first fight ended due to a knee injury to Aspinall. Keen to put it behind him Tom wasted no time putting Curtis Blaydes and the backstory to bed.
Furthermore, the knockout bolstered his record of the shortest average fight time in the UFC. This fight was his 9th in the UFC leaving his average fight time at an astounding 2 minutes 20 seconds long.
With his 100% finish rate intact it is no denying the whole Heavyweight division will be wary of just how complete of a fighter Aspinall is. None more aware than MMA royalty and Heavyweight champion, Jon “Bones” Jones.
The two fighters have been on each other’s radar for a while and as Aspinall keeps winning the fight seems increasingly hard to overlook. With rumours circulating of a rescheduled fight between Jones and Stipe Miocic in November UFC boss Dana White confirmed Aspinall will fight the winner.
With that in mind, the interim Heavyweight star Aspinall weighed in on how he feels UFC Heavyweight champion Jones viewed UFC 304.
Tom Aspinall States “Angry” Jon Jones Wanted Blaydes to Win at UFC 304
With one successful defence under his belt, Tom Aspinall seems set on fighting Jones to prove his status as the greatest Heavyweight on the planet. At the UFC 304 post-fight press conference he spoke at great length about the current Heavyweight champion:
“He’ll be very angry about [Tom’s UFC 304 victory] or the fact that everyone’s saying that I can beat him, but that’s OK. On the contrary to what Jon Jones fanboys might think, I have nothing against Jon Jones as a person. I think I’m the best heavyweight in the world and if he thinks he’s the best heavyweight in the world, let’s settle it. Simple as that.”
Whilst showing his respect to Jones and his legacy it is clear he is keen to get his hands on him. Not down to anything other than proving his worth and silencing the Aspinall’s dwindling doubters.
Tom did not stop there stating he believes Jones was rooting against him on Saturday night:
“We know what Jon’s doing. Jon was there, crossing his fingers and toes tonight hoping I’d lose to Curtis, let’s not bull***t about it. He posted about it loads anyway that I’m going to lose to him. That didn’t happen, so that’s the fight I want next”
With Dana White confirming Aspinall is next in line for the Heavyweight unification fight it would seem the fight has made itself. Whilst Tom wants Jones, he must face the winner of the rumoured November Heavyweight title fight.
Tom will certainly be rooting for Jones come November to be able to prove his worth against the MMA Goat of many.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
