Fight fans around the world, assuming they have Instagram, just felt their heart skip as Jon Jones recently posted on his Instagram account that he will be returning to the octagon November 9, 2024. Who’s he fighting? Stipe Miocic, former UFC heavyweight champion.
Stipe is considered by many to be the greatest heavyweight of all time, but as everybody knows, heavyweight is the most unpredictable, and, arguably, least athletic division in fight sports. Why? Because, as many UFC heavyweights have admitted themselves over the years: “All it takes is one punch in heavyweight from any fighter, and you’re done.” Everyone in heavyweight has knock out power, because the starting weight is 102 kg, and if you’re walking around with that kind of mass, inevitably, you’re going to hit hard. That’s not to take anything away from their athleticism, but it’s a known fact that, come round 2, heavyweights lose about 60% of their cardiovascular gas tank.
That’s what makes Jon Jones’ recent inclusion so unbelievably interesting. Yes, he absolutely demolished a very worthy opponent in Cyril Gane, looking the best he had in years (and that was on top of moving up a weight class and not having competed in three years). Which really just yields one conclusion: there are some things you simply cannot teach. Jon is a freak of a specimen, who only started training MMA after buying a ‘how to train MMA’ book at a local bookstore right after college in order to provide for his pregnant girlfriend. Yes, he was a college wrestler, but actual fighting? Nada. In fact, just a few years ago, Jon was officially a white belt (the lowest, most beginner rank) in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, yet had submitted, quite effortlessly, several BJJ black belts along his path of destruction. With the exception of some very boring snooze fests (that he still won), Jon effortlessly wrung out the entire light heavyweight division – both veterans and hungry newcomers – like a wet sock, before chucking it in the hamper. And then he got a dadbod, moved up to heavyweight, and in just a few minutes, chocked out one of the most dangerous strikers the heavyweight division has ever seen. Seriously. Is this guy human?
Which brings us to Tom Aspinall, the most exciting prospect to come out of the UK, nonetheless the heavyweight division, in some time.
Aside from suffering an immediate knee injury in his fight against Curtis Blaydes, Aspinall’s UFC record is perfect. He has 5 ‘performance of the night’ bonuses, both knockouts and submissions, and he’s the current interim heavyweight champion, having knocked out Russian hulk, Sergei Vladimirovich Pavlovich. People are now saying Aspinall is the scariest man in heavyweight. But then again, aside from his lackluster loss against Francis Ngannou – which really just looked like two drunk hooligans swinging in the bleachers during the Euros Finale – Gane was undefeated before facing Jones, housing a similar repuation. In fact, many men have been undefeated when coming up against Jones.
Many men who’ve been promoted as “the hardest hitter he’s ever faced,” “the fastest” “the strongest” “the best jiu-jitsu”…etc…and Jon makes light work of them all. Tom has been very vocal about wanting to fight Jones, and if you read the Instagram comments under the posts of either athlete’s account, you’ll see a tsunami of irate fans begging the two to fight. Can’t say I’m not one of them.
After watching the video above, one can’t help but feel that Jon has the upper hand in terms of “don’t f*** with me, bro,” and Aspinall looked noticeably submissive in his presence. Still, as mentioned, Jon’s not getting any younger. He’s also packed on a lot of weight, and despite his desecration of Gane, he was noticeably slower. But also noticeably stronger. Aspinall is five years Jones’ junior, which isn’t a huge different, but it’s not nothing. So…who knows?
Either way, win, lose, or draw, watching Jon compete is like watching the first ever moon landing of human physicality.
