One fight that Jon Jones needs to win to cement his legacy as a heavyweight champion of the world is against Tom Aspinall. While the entire world has been waiting for the matchup, Dana White raised the hype around it all with a confirmation. He claimed that it’s “100% guaranteed” to happen in 2025 and will be the biggest fight in the heavyweight division. Fighters and fans alike have weighed in on the matchup. Many chose Jones, while others stood with Aspinall. But one of Aspinall’s former rivals had a prediction to make. 

Stuart Austin faced the interim heavyweight champion during their tenure at BAMMA in 2015. And Austin, being the better grappler between the two back then, submitted Aspinall with a heel hook in the second round. Well, we can certainly say that this was the only true defeat that Aspinall faced. The other two came from an injury and an illegal 12-6 elbow.

Speaking to TalkSport, Austin said, “The big thing that hasn’t been tested in the UFC has been his wrestling. If you want to look back at me, I outwrestled him. Obviously, he’s got a lot better since then. He’s been doing wrestling classes, he’s better at everything… I think clinch and wrestling would probably be the way to go for Jon, because if he strikes with Aspinall, I think there’s only one person going to win that fight.” It’s pretty clear that Jones is a better wrestler, right?

‘He-Man’ claimed that most heavyweights would fall away when they face someone like Aspinall. After all, he has the speed, power, and accuracy to get all the wins that he could. But Jones stands on a different pedestal altogether. Austin continued, “So maybe Jon could test the deep waters, try and take him a little bit further. But again, maybe you don’t have that as a choice. I’m sure everyone’s tried to take him a little bit further. He’s an amazing martial artist. You know, he really is the best heavyweight right now.”

But do you know what the light heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira, had to say about the matchup? Well, the Brazilian star didn’t let his online rivalry against Jon Jones cloud his judgment and stood tall in his beliefs. Let’s take a look at ’Poatan’s words, shall we?

Alex Pereira weighs in on Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall superfight

In a conversation with Bloody Elbow, Pereira claimed, “I think Jon Jones will win.” Well, he admitted that he wouldn’t study the fight. But he did agree that it would be a pretty exciting one. Right after he got the interim heavyweight belt, Tom Aspinall had been asking for a fight to unite the heavyweight belts and fight ‘Bones’. While Aspinall didn’t have much to lose, a loss against the Britisher would shatter Jones’ legacy. Which is probably why the heavyweight champ has avoided the fight for so long. And the one he wanted to fight instead was none other than Pereira. What does ‘Poatan’ have to say about it?

‘Poatan’ went on, “Back when I said I wanted to fight at heavyweight, people had already connected the dots and mentioned Jon Jones, so that’s something being speculated, even if it’s just by the fans. I would want to go and train with him now, but if we end up fighting, people will start saying all kinds of things about it. So, I don’t think it would make sense now. But if we were to fight one day and then train together afterward, that would make sense.”

Nevertheless, we can expect the fight between Aspinall and Jones to finally go down during the International Fight Week. Don’t you think that’s the perfect time for Dana White to make it happen? One thing is for certain—we are in for a rollercoaster ride when the two heavyweight champs finally collide. 

What are your thoughts on Austin’s words? Do you think Aspinall can outwrestle Jones this time? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.