UFC Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones is continuing to come under fire for attempting to justify avoiding a title unification fight with Tom Aspinall.
Jones is fast approaching his first defense of the heavyweight crown, which he captured in his divisional debut last year by submitting Ciryl Gane in one round. He was quickly penciled in to next face Stipe Miocic.
Their planned showdown at Madison Square Garden last November fell through, however, due to an injury on the side of "Bones," and Tom Aspinall subsequently became interim champ as a result.
Despite the presence of another titleholder, though, Jones has remained steadfast in his desire to face Miocic next instead of unifying the belt. With that, he'll give making the walk inside MSG to square off with the returning legend a second chance this weekend at UFC 309.
Even beyond that, Aspinall remains an opponent whom the Rochester native is looking to avoid. The champ has expressed a number of reasons for not fighting the Brit this year, from a potential retirement and lack of enthusiasm about the interim king's record to his desire to face Alex Pereira instead.
And Jones' list of excuses has expanded in fight week. After suggesting he could vacate the title post-UFC 309 to fight the likes of Jamahal Hill, the former light heavyweight champ said he's looking to fight athletes close to his size.
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It's worth noting that Jones spent three years on the sidelines to bulk up and prepare for his stint at heavyweight, weighing in at 248 pounds for his divisional debut. That's just three pounds lighter than Aspinall hit the scales at before knocking out Curtis Blaydes this past July.
Jones' latest remarks drew plenty of backlash on social media, not least due to the fact his remark on size came during the same media scrum in which he pointed to Derrick Lewis as a "super fight" he could pursue.
The common theme among commenters was the "ducking" accusation that has followed Jones throughout UFC 309 fight week.
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