We finally got to see Jon Jones at heavyweight according to some of the MMA analysts covering UFC 309, who discounted the Ciryl Gane fight, accusing Gane of just “lying down”. Many wondered how he would perform against the consensus greatest of all-time heavyweight, though questions remained amongst pundits and fans alike. Would Stipe (at now 42), be the same as the Stipe that defended his title against the likes of Overeem, Dos Santos and Cormier? Would that three-and-a-half-year layoff work to his benefit, bring him back re-vitalised? Unfortunately, the answer to that was a resounding no. Stipe looked like a far shadow from his old self, he looked slow, and confused, and even when he did throw, his strikes looked “crowded” as one commentator noted. There’s no doubt his wars against Daniel Cormier and the vicious knockout loss to Francis Ngannou in his last fight, had certainly taken their toll.
Jones for his part, looked like he hadn’t missed a beat. Though his words post-fight will have you thinking it was a closer fight than it was, he dominated from start to finish, getting a 10-8 on two of three judges scorecards in the first round and finishing Stipe with a vicious spinning back-kick in the third round. When asked after the fight what’s next, he stayed clear of anything concrete, saying he’d talk to the boss and Hunter Campbell and thanking his lord and saviour Jesus Christ. However, both Alex Pereira and Tom Aspinall were two names that Joe Rogan threw into the mix.
Scroll any feed online, watch the pre-fight press conference (and listen to Dana White), and you’ll see and hear the verdict on what people want clearly. People want Tom Aspinall vs Jon Jones to unify the heavyweight title, and that indeed, is the right fight to make.
There’s been some outrage online at the lack of opportunity Stipe received when he announced his retirement post-fight. For a man that is considered the heavyweight GOAT, who fought whoever the UFC put in front of him and beat some of the biggest names in the division, it was sad to see. The fact that he was able to achieve what he did, whilst working as a full-time fireman, husband and father, is nothing short of incredible.
The question now stands can Jones find that success against a younger, faster, stronger, and in his prime heavyweight like Tom Aspinall?
For what it’s worth, Aspinall came away even more confident after watching Jones live, telling Adam Catterall and Nick Peet from BT Sport he’s now certain he has the speed advantage and that he saw some things live that you don’t see when you just watch it on the TV. Given he met with Dana and Hunter Campbell straight after the main event, you would expect something concrete in the next few days, but the options are simple. Either Jones defends against Aspinall to unify the heavyweight title in what Dana White has called potentially the “biggest heavyweight fight ever” or he does the super fight with Pereira at light-heavyweight but relinquishes the heavyweight title. I’ll be hoping for the former. Either way, he certainly has options, and for now, the greatest to ever do it will stay on a little longer.
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