Tom Aspinall claims UFC star Jon Jones was ‘Smart’ to avoid face off during recent meeting: ‘He doesn’t want to’

UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall doesn’t blame Jon Jones for not doing a faceoff with him.

Aspinall and Jones ran into each other at the Arnold Sports Festival. There, the two were talking to one another, as Aspinall wanted to set up a future fight with the two, but ‘Bones’ didn’t seem too keen and also didn’t do a faceoff for the potential fight.

According to Aspinall, he says Jones not doing the faceoff was smart as now it doesn’t lock him in to having to fight him.

“I wanted to face off,” Tom Aspinall said on The MMA Hour. “Jon’s smart, you know? … Jon will not say anywhere — you can’t find it, it’s not out there — that he will fight me. He won’t say it anywhere publicly. He won’t say it. You can’t find a clip, a quote, nothing, anywhere, of Jon Jones saying, ‘One day I’m going to fight Tom Aspinall, and I’m going to freaking beat the brakes off him.” That’s what I’m going to do.’ That doesn’t exist. He doesn’t want any evidence, anywhere, of him agreeing to any kind of fight with me, because he doesn’t want to go back on that.

“He doesn’t want to do a faceoff because that promotes a potential fight. When I ask him, ‘Jon are we going to do this?’ He doesn’t say, ‘Absolutely. Let me get Stipe out of the way and we’ll do it.’ He’ll instead say, ‘Oh, maybe one day.’ Because he doesn’t want that quote of, ‘We’re going to fight one day.’ It’s super smart.”

Of course, Jon Jones has been trying to secure his first heavyweight title defense against Stipe Miocic. With that, Aspinall may have to defend his interim title next, and a rematch against Curtis Blaydes could happen.

Tom Aspinall says Jon Jones fight doesn’t ‘define’ him

With Jon Jones not showing much interest in Tom Aspinall, the Brit doesn’t care if the fight doesn’t happen.

Although Aspinall wants to fight Jones, he says if it doesn’t happen it won’t hurt his career or his legacy.

“Honestly, I don’t spend my days thinking about Jon Jones,” Aspinall said. “On the contrary to what people think, I’m not desperate for it. That fight doesn’t define my career. It would be great, it would be nice, but I’ve got other ways to prove myself. I’m going to be around this sport for at least another five years. At least. Minimum.”

So it would be great. If I get the fight, fantastic. But I’m not like, ‘Oh, look at what Jon’s done again! It’s never going to happen! Oh my God!’ That’s Jon’s business. Jon can do his thing. If we fight, great. If we don’t, great as well. All respect to Jon Jones, one of the GOATs of the sport.”

Aspinall is coming off a first-round TKO win over Sergei Pavlovich back in December to become the interim heavyweight champion.