Just as Jon Jones was about to make his comeback to the UFC as a heavyweight contender, Francis Ngannou engaged in a war of words with Dana White and Co. This shattered the dreams of the fighting community to watch the showdown between Jones and Ngannou. But soon after ‘Bones’ conquered the heavyweight realm, he found a challenger in Tom Aspinall. Needless to say, the entire world began rallying behind Aspinall in his campaign to fight Jones. 

But is ‘Honey Badger’ truly a better opponent for the heavyweight champion, as compared to ‘The Predator’? Today, let’s take a deep dive and compare the two heavyweights and find out which fighter can truly pose a threat to Jon Jones, and claim the title of the ‘baddest man on the planet’. 

Tom Aspinall is the future of the heavyweight division

The first factor that comes to mind when we look for an opponent for Jones is age. Aspinall is in his fighting prime at 31 years of age. On the other hand, the Cameroonian Francis Ngannou turned 38 years in September. This age difference justifies why Aspinall is a bit faster and more agile than Ngannou. The age gap of seven years between the Englishman and Cameroonian already puts Tom Aspinall one step ahead of Francis Ngannou. 

Francis Ngannou’s fallout with the UFC has indeed removed all chances of him fighting Jones in the Octagon. Vacating the belt back in 2022 didn’t sit well with the UFC head honcho and the two are yet to resolve their differences. Despite dominating Renan Ferreira at PFL’s Battle of the Giants, his fights in the boxing realm against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua didn’t add to his already waning years as a prime athlete. He had an excellent showing against Tyson Fury for 10 rounds but lost by split decision. After that, he was knocked out cold by Anthony Joshua, in the second round of his second pro-boxing outing, earlier in March.

On the other hand, Tom Aspinall has continued to rise despite facing a setback in the form of a knee injury in 2022. He came back exactly a year later, post-recovery, and faced Marcin Tybura at UFC Fight Night 224 and secured a first-round KO victory against the Polish fighter. The trend repeated itself when Aspinall fought Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295. Finally, ‘Honey Badger’ exacted revenge against Curtis Blaydes – the man who he injured his knee against – at UFC 304, knocking ‘Razor’ 60 seconds into the bout. Winning back-to-back fights with first-round finishes indeed puts the Britisher in a better spot.

From the standpoints of physical attributes, and performances inside the Octagon, Tom Aspinall walks miles past Francis Ngannou, despite having fewer fights than the Cameroonian, from a combat sports resume perspective. But MMA and combat sports aren’t just about the thrill and agony inside the Octagon, they’re equally about the drama that ensues outside the cage. And while Francis Ngannou is no stranger to drama and back-and-forths, Jon Jones pushing Aspinall’s buttons makes for an interesting storyline and build-up to the fight. Let’s take a closer look.

The UFC heavyweight title drama makes things interesting

As with everything with Jon Jones these days, his heavyweight title shot was nothing short of a controversy. Getting a shot at the championship title in his heavyweight debut was something that didn’t quite sit well with many fans, especially his detractors. Nevertheless, Jones debuted against Ciryl Gane for the vacant title, dispatched ‘Bon Gamin’ in the first round, and became undisputed champion. Right after, he was slated to fight Stipe Miocic for his very first title defense as a heavyweight. But in the meantime, Aspinall was also making his presence undeniable in the division. 

When the Englishman beat Tybura back in 2023, most thought that he was the natural choice for the next title contender. However, Jones didn’t oblige and instead pursued the fight against Stipe Miocic. ‘Bones’ and the veteran firefighter/greatest heavyweight champ ever Miocic were slated for UFC 295. And then the worst happened where Jones pulled out of the bout due to a torn pectoral muscle, once again leaving the heavyweight division in limbo. Calls were made, including by Aspinall, for Jones to be stripped. The UFC didn’t want to do that, but they didn’t want to leave Aspinall hanging either, so they created an interim belt that he could win.

And win he did, against Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295, dispatching the Russian demolition machine in 69 seconds of their bout. Now Tom Aspinall for title unification in his next fight was undeniable, right? Well, he was, but the UFC still wanted Jones against Miocic, so they had Aspinall defend his interim belt, mind you, against Curtis Blaydes. Sound absurd, but it actually happened, and while interim champions in the past were promoted to undisputed status after their defenses, it only makes sense now for the Brit to snatch the undisputed belt from ‘Bones’ inside the Octagon. Meanwhile, Jones came back at UFC 309, dispatched Miocic in a spectacular 3rd-round finishing sequence, and still refused to acknowledge the interim champion.

The popular opinion on people’s minds is the fact that Jon Jones is afraid of tarnishing his near-spotless legacy with a possible loss to Tom Aspinall. While Jones has an incredibly high chance of winning, someone like Aspinall could put him through the gauntlet, and send him into retirement, regardless of the undisputed champion winning or losing. During a conversation with Michael Bisping, the Brit said, “Let’s be honest, and since I won that fight, he’s gone completely quiet. He’ll continue to go completely quiet about me until he retires. Because there’s no way on Earth that he’s going to fight me. Not a chance. I will retire Jon Jones without even fighting him.”

Due credit to Jones, however, as he agreed to have his next fight against Aspinall under one condition. He wants “f–k you” money for the fight, and that’s fair considering how long he’s been in the sport, and also keeping his dominance in mind. It seems like Dana White had no choice but to agree. But since we’re on the topic of comparing Tom Aspinall and Francis Nagannou, we have to ask this question; will this matchup really entertain the fighting community as much as Jones vs. Ngannou would have?

Aspinall has more weapons than Francis Ngannou in his arsenal

Every single fight fan knows how hard Ngannou hits, having been compared to being hit by a Ford Escort with 129,161 units registered on the PowerKube. ‘The Predator’ has won 13 of his 18 victories by KO/TKO via punches. He has won his fights by sheer pressure and forward movement, leaving his opponents with no breathing space, as seen with his knockout of Jairzinho Rosenstruik at UFC 249.

However, the other aspects of his fights might be a bit underdeveloped. It’s still a wonder how he got to the top of the division just with power punching. And when it comes to grappling, Ngannou’s wrestling was exposed by Stipe Miocic in their first outing at UFC 220, but that was a wake-up call for him, and he was able to counter-wrestle Miocic and eventually finish him in their rematch at 260. Furthermore, Ngannou most notably took Ciryl Gane down at UFC 270 and finished his PFL heavyweight fight against Renan Ferreira on the ground as well. 

On the other hand, Aspinall is a more well-rounded fighter. Did you know that his father Andy Aspinall is one of the first BJJ black belts in the UK? The senior Aspinall is a third-degree black belt who opened Aspinall BJJ and 2005, and has been training Tom since the interim champion was 12. So, there’s no denying his ability to grapple his opponents, given his three submission victories out of 15 finishes in his career. Without needing to mention it again, he is a KO artist as well, with 12 wins via knockouts. Being 6’6” with the agility of a featherweight fighter, and good enough grappling skills, Aspinall poses quite a big threat to the heavyweight champion. 

For all intents and purposes, Dana White definitely wants to see this match happen. The UFC head honcho told MMA Junkie, “It would be the biggest heavyweight fight in UFC history, by a long shot. It’s going to be the biggest heavyweight fight ever. And it’ll probably be the biggest fight we’ve ever done.” Now all we need to do is wait for the undisputed heavyweight champion to reach an agreement, and get into fight camp. Then, we as fans can treat ourselves to what could be the greatest heavyweight bout in UFC history if not MMA history. 

We’ll end this piece by asking the question; who do you think deserves the heavyweight title shot more than Aspinall? Would we ever get to see a fight between Jones and Ngannou? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.