The pressure on UFC Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones to fight Tom Aspinall is continuing to mount just days away from his first title defense.
Jones will return to the cage 20 months on from his crowning in March 2023, when he debuted at heavyweight by rapidly submitting Ciryl Gane to capture the then-vacant belt.
While his first challenger was also penciled in last year, an injury forced Jones out of a Madison Square Garden headliner opposite the returning Stipe Miocic. A year on, the pair will give their matchup another go in the main event of UFC 309 at MSG.
That, however, is despite the presence of an interim titleholder in Aspinall, who had gold wrapped around his waist after knocking out Sergei Pavlovich in their late-notice clash last November, which replaced the original Jones vs. Miocic showdown.
Having also defended his strap in the months since, Aspinall has plenty of backers when it comes to his calls for a unification fight. But not only did Jones dismiss that for his upcoming defense, he's also seemingly planning to either hang up his gloves or target the champ from below, Alex Pereira, should he get past Miocic on Saturday night.
"Bones" has been responding to much criticism online for that stance, and though that's seen him hit back at fans for the most part, his latest back and forth came with the top contender in the division he formerly ruled.
Commenting on a social media post detailing Jones' recent remarks about favoring a clash with "Poatan" over his interim counterpart, Magomed Ankalaev joined in with those suggesting the Rochester native is ducking Aspinall.
Loading tweet...
"Sound like someone (scared) of big TOM," Ankalaev wrote.
It didn't take long for Jones to take notice of the Russian's words, branding him 'jealous' and challenging the surging light heavyweight to replicate his résumé on mixed martial arts' biggest stage.
Loading tweet...
"Magomed jealousy won’t earn you legend status, my friend," Jones wrote. "Train harder, hate less. Want to truly insult me? Break some of my records first. Let’s get started."
It stands to reason that Aspinall will be a prominent topic throughout UFC 309 fight week, especially given the interim champ's presence in New York City as the backup fighter for the main event.