There is no clearer fight to be made in the entire MMA world at the moment than Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall. After all, ‘Bones’ is the ‘undisputed’ UFC heavyweight champ and Aspinall holds the interim counterpart. But the consensus MMA GOAT had been remarkably consistent and insistent in trying to ‘duck’ the Englishman.

Fans will remember ‘Bones’ totally ruling out a clash with Aspinall before UFC 309, and floating light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira‘s name as his next opponent instead. The New Mexico resident has claimed that a win over, ‘Poatan’, the biggest UFC star at the moment would do wonders for his legacy much more than Aspinall. But UFC veteran Matt Brown thinks ‘Bones’ is being disingenuous.

“Well, Jon talks about legacy, right? Pereira to me is not a legacy fight for Jon because Alex is not a heavyweight. Tom is more of a legacy fight. He is the interim champ, so it is 1000% the proper fight. If Jon fights Alex, it’s for money. And I just wish that he would say that, like, ‘yeah I want to fight Alex, I want to make the money.’ Fair. I want to watch that fight, too. I would not mind at all seeing that fight, but it’s not the Legacy fight. Tom Aspinall is the legacy fight,” Brown said in an Exclusive ES interview with Andrew Whitelaw.

Indeed, many have already speculated that Jones wants to fight Pereira since it would make him a boatload of money for a relatively easy fight. After all, the Brazilian’s ground game is not as efficient as his world-class striking and in addition, he is smaller than the heavyweight version of Jones.

On the other hand, Aspinall has a remarkably well-rounded game and is as good on the ground as he is on the feet. This is why some feel that ‘Bones’ is ‘scared’ of fighting the Englishman, since it may mar his essentially undefeated record. However, the stars seem to be aligning as the fight everyone wants to see is one step closer to happening.

Jon Jones is in talks to fight Aspinall even as some fear it’s just a stalling tactic

Thankfully, UFC CEO Dana White had shut down the idea of Jones-Pereira next, making it clear that Aspinall is next for ‘Bones’. The head honcho CEO, after all, told reporters at the pre-UFC 309 presser that “the winner [of Jones-Miocic] should absolutely fight Tom.” And White’s resolve hasn’t wavered since, as he told fans on Instagram that “Jon vs Tom [is next]” amidst rumors of a potential fight between Jones and Ngannou after the recent interest by PFL and the Saudi brigade.

Seeing the writing on the wall, Jones, too, has finally come around to fighting the interim champ but demanded “f**k you money” to do so. Now, Jones and the UFC are in negotiations to agree to terms, but nothing can be said for certain at the moment. While the UFC will undoubtedly do everything in its power to make sure the fight happens so that the heavyweight title lineage is not interrupted. On the other hand, some feel Jones may just be looking to save face.

They feel that Jones may just be looking to price himself out of an Aspinall fight by asking for so much money that he knows the UFC would refuse. But that is just speculation at this point. And Jones, who is clearly at the fag end of his career, would be looking to make as much money as possible.

Just sitting out and retiring looks like a worse choice for him than to fight Aspinall for what will surely be a whole lot of money. What do you think about Matt Brown’s take on Jon Jones in our Exclusive ES interview?