Former UFC title challenger Dominick Reyes believes Jon Jones’ avoidance of a title unification fight with Tom Aspinall is all about “risk management.”
Bones’ returned from a three-year-long layoff last March, walking into a heavyweight title fight with top-ranked contender Ciryl Gane. Jones made quick work of ‘Bon Gamin’ and was slated to defend the strap against consensus GOAT Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 in November. Unfortunately, Jones suffered a torn pectoral weeks before their scheduled scrap.
Instead, fans were treated to an interim heavyweight title fight pitting Tom Aspinall against Sergei Pavlovich. Aspinall came out on top, scoring a 69-second KO against the Russian knockout artist.
Typically, an interim titleholder moves on to fight the undisputed champ upon their return. However, it didn’t take long for Aspinall to realize that a fight with Jones wasn’t in his future. With the UFC determined to rebook Jones vs. Miocic for some time in 2024, it’s becoming more and more apparent that Aspinall will never get his dream match against ‘Bones.’
