Daniel Cormier believes that if Jon Jones had stuck around to fight Tom Aspinall, he would have come out on top.
Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) recently announced his retirement from the sport, bringing an end to one of the longest-running “will they, won’t they” sagas in MMA history.
Jones became the UFC heavyweight champion by submitting Ciryl Gane nearly two and a half years ago. He fought just once more in the Octagon—defeating Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 last November—and has spent the past several months resisting calls to face interim champion Tom Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) in a title unification bout.
In the wake of his retirement announcement, Jones’s longtime rival from his light heavyweight days, UFC color commentator Daniel Cormier, shared his thoughts on how a potential matchup with Aspinall might have played out.
Aspinall’s last five wins have all come by first-round knockout, and Cormier—who went five rounds with Jones back in 2017—believes the Brit’s lack of experience in deeper rounds could work against him.
“Since the fight will never happen, gun to my head, I would have said Jon Jones will beat him right now,” Cormier said during an appearance on the Pound4Pound podcast with Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo this week. “I would have said, he'll probably beat him right now. Because guess why? Tom has never been pushed into those championship rounds.
“But if Tom gets to those champs, once he gets to those championship rounds, even now, say Cyril Gane pushes him 25 minutes, and he'll, if he beats Cyril Gane, but he learns to go 25 minutes where that first time you feel that ‘I got to get up off that stool after the third round.’ Tom hasn't gotten off the stool for a third round. You needed to fight Tom now when he doesn't have that experience, especially as Jon Jones.”
