Jon Jones didn’t even wait for the dust to settle before taking a shot at Tom Aspinall. A day after the Englishman vacated the UFC heavyweight title as a result of his ongoing recovery from the eye damage he suffered during his UFC 321 title bout with Ciryl Gane, ‘Bones’ appeared to question whether his longtime rival’s eye injury was ever as serious as reported.
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The 33-year-old had reportedly been preparing to return in a rematch against Gane at UFC 334. However, complications with one of his eyes prompted doctors to refuse him clearance to fight, pushing back his return. This ultimately led him to vacate the title because he didn’t want to “hold the heavyweight division up.” And Jon Jones? He had a pretty blunt reaction. The former champion, who retired from MMA last June without ever facing the Englishman in a title unification bout, responded to a fan who claimed the UFC had been confident that Tom Aspinall could eventually defend the belt.
“This confirms that his ‘injury’ wasn’t that big of a deal and the UFC was confident that he could defend his belt in due course,” the fan wrote. “Aspinall, however, knows he can’t beat Ciryl Gane so took the easy way out. Absolutely shameless!”
“My sentiments exactly,” Jones replied.
‘Bones’ then appeared to agree with MMA Joey, who drew a comparison between Aspinall’s situation and Jones’ own fight against Ciryl Gane.
“Jon Jones gets brutally fouled by Ciryl Gane in the first 30 seconds, never complained & then demolished him 2 mins later,” MMA Joey wrote. “Tom Aspinall gets fouled quits then cries about it for a year before finally giving up the belt. They’re not the same; here today, gone tomorrow.”
This prompted another reaction from Jones.
My sentiments exactly
This confirms that his “injury” wasn’t that big of a deal and the UFC was confident that he could defend his belt in due course. Aspinall however knows he can’t beat Ciryl Gane so took the easy way out. Absolutely shameless!
“Dude you are on fire,” Jon Jones responded.
However, Jones wasn’t done piling on. He also reacted to another post claiming Aspinall never deserved to become the undisputed heavyweight champion and was elevated largely because fans wanted to see Jones lose.
“Tom Aspinall never deserved the undisputed title to begin with,” the tweet read. “Yet you have people acting like he was some heavyweight phenom bc he beat [Sergei] Pavlovich 3 years ago.
“He was no more than a great white hope for people who wanted to see Jon Jones lose. He didn’t want the Gane rematch & now he’s going to blame the rest of his failure of an MMA career on Ciryl Gane.”
“Ouch,” Jones piled on.
Jon Jones’ comments have raised a few eyebrows, though, because his fight with ‘Bon Gamin’ played out very differently from Tom Aspinall’s title bout.
‘Bones’ was hit by a low blow early in their UFC 285 meeting, but the fight continued, and he submitted Ciryl Gane just after the two-minute mark.
The Englishman’s situation, however, was far more complicated. During their UFC 321 contest, Gane’s fingers went deep into both of his eyes, leaving the Englishman unable to continue. Aspinall later underwent eye surgery.
“It was completely black for four weeks and probably the scariest experience of my life,” Aspinall said while recalling the aftermath.
The injury setback came after Tom Aspinall had spent much of his layoff chasing an undisputed title fight with Jones. That matchup never happened. Jones retired after defeating a 42-year-old Stipe Miocic, and the UFC subsequently promoted the Briton from interim champion to undisputed titleholder.
The 33-year-old’s decision to vacate the belt wasn’t simply a case of refusing to defend it. In his statement, the Englishman explained that several complications stemmed from the fouls that had already changed the course of his career.
“Stepping away from the title is not stepping away from the sport or the dream. I’ll continue doing everything I can to get healthy, get cleared and get back to competing as soon as possible,” Aspinall said. “What makes this particularly difficult is that many of the complications I’m dealing with are a result of fouls that changed the course of my career.”
The heavyweight title picture is now a bit of a mess. Ciryl Gane won the interim belt for a second time over the summer, but the UFC hasn’t officially promoted him to undisputed champion yet, unlike when Aspinall was elevated following Jon Jones’ retirement.
‘Bones,’ meanwhile, keeps teasing a potential comeback while staying active on social media. For now, though, he seems more interested in throwing his two cents into the heavyweight drama from the sidelines, all while helping coach rising UFC heavyweight prospect Gable Steveson. But that doesn’t mean that the former champion cannot mark his much-awaited return.
Gable Steveson believes Jon Jones may make a UFC comeback
Gable Steveson believes Tom Aspinall’s decision to vacate the heavyweight title could give Jones another reason to return to the Octagon.
Speaking to RMC Sport Combat ahead of UFC 331, Jones’ teammate suggested that the vacant belt might reignite the former champion’s motivation after another year away from competition.
“I think Jon would like to come back also,” Steveson said. “Maybe seeing this belt open up put another fire into him.
“You know, Jon’s my training partner every day in Albuquerque, so I’ve seen what he can still do, and I know he can do it at the highest level. And maybe his time will come again, and I think it will.”
Steveson also floated Josh Hokit as another name who could slot into the heavyweight title picture.
“You know, I’ve heard rumble’s of Josh Hokit,” he said. “That would be a fantastic fight. You know, Josh is another fast guy that can keep up with the pace of Gane, and so maybe Josh Hokit can go out there and do his thing.
“But I’m not sure. You know, whoever they pick will be a fantastic fight, and hopefully it’ll work out soon.”
A Jon Jones comeback would be pretty ironic, considering Tom Aspinall only became undisputed champion after ‘Bones’ vacated the heavyweight title following his retirement.
And if Jones does decide to return, an immediate title opportunity would be a realistic possibility given his stature and the UFC’s interest in major pay-per-view attractions.
A rematch with Ciryl Gane would also come with an obvious storyline. Jones submitted the Frenchman in 2023, and ‘Bon Gamin’ could now get the chance to avenge that loss in a fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship.
Jones and UFC CEO Dana White haven’t always seen eye to eye on his career plans, but the former champion remains one of the biggest names in MMA. If he does make his way back to the Octagon, the heavyweight title picture could get very interesting, very quickly.