Ever since Tom Aspinall became the interim heavyweight champion, and undisputed champion Jon Jones refused to face him, ‘Bones has been dogged with accusations of ducking Aspinall. And on paper, Jones has good reasons to do so, according to Daniel Cormier. ‘DC’ pointed out that Aspinall’s natural size, strength, youth, as well as impeccable game, will be a significant challenge for the 36-year-old who is not a natural heavyweight.

And the smart thing for Jones to do would be to not risk his undefeated record and thus cement his legacy against the dangerous Aspinall. But, veteran MMA analyst Luke Thomas disagrees with the assessment that Jones is ducking Aspinall, because of a technicality.

Luke Thomas explains why Jones isn’t ducking Aspinall (technically)

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones, widely considered the MMA GOAT, was booked to face the man considered the heavyweight GOAT, Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 last November. Predictably billed ‘The Battle of the GOATs’, the fight was expected to be both men’s final fight and an opportunity for both to cement their respective legacies. Jones, however, suffered a serious injury weeks before the Madison Square Garden card and the bout was postponed. As a replacement for this bout, the UFC had Tom Aspinall face knockout artist Sergei Pavlovich for the interim heavyweight title.

After Aspinall knocked out Pavlovich in 69 seconds and became the new interim champion, almost everyone has been clamoring for the interim champ to face the undisputed champ. After all, a returning undisputed champion fighting someone else other than the interim champion is unheard of in the promotion and the sport. This is why Jones’s refusal to fight Aspinall is being seen by many as him ducking the Englishman.

However, in a video on his YouTube channel, Luke Thomas pointed out that Jon Jones was being unfairly maligned and was not ducking Tom Aspinall. Because the UFC had not offered him the fight. “No, technically Jon Jones is not ducking Tom Aspinall because in order for that to be true the UFC would have to be offering him a fight with Tom Aspinall, which we know they’re not actually doing. But that’s the entire problem; Jon Jones should be fighting Tom Aspinall. It looks like he’s not going to be despite the fact that Tom Aspinall is wearing an interim belt, and he, Jon, is the current heavyweight champion,” he said.

Even though almost everyone, including Thomas, agreed that Jones should try and unify the heavyweight title against the interim champion, it looks increasingly more unlikely to materialize, especially after Jon Jones’ newfound aspirations to fight Alex Pereira.

Jon Jones wants to fight Alex Pereira next

Amid calls for a unification bout with Aspinall, Jon Jones has floated a potential bout with Alex Pereira after fighting Miocic. He felt that a fight against Pereira would be “The most massive fight the UFC could make,” and would give the Brazilian light heavyweight champion a shot at becoming UFC’s first three-division champion.

And Alex Pereira, who had called for a heavyweight fight at UFC 301 after knocking out Jamahal Hill in the main event of UFC 300, is on board. The 205-pound champion said that while his plans had changed after UFC 300, he would be willing to face Jones for the heavyweight championship. If the UFC agreed, that is. And Dana White, at the UFC 300 post-fight press conference, has already indicated that he wants ‘Poatan’ to stay at 205 and defend his title.

But Jones is certainly right that a fight against Pereira would potentially be one of the biggest fights in UFC history. The 36-year-old is perhaps the biggest superstar in the promotion at the moment, after Conor McGregor. And Jon Jones is undoubtedly one of the greatest to ever do it.

Who do you think should be Jones’ next opponent: Alex Pereira or Tom Aspinall? Drop your pick in the comment section.