UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is sure to be one of the most talked about fighters of the week despite the fact that he isn't set to compete at UFC 309 on Saturday night. Many believe that it should be him facing Jon Jones in a title unification clash at Madison Square Garden rather than Stipe Miocic.
During his time away from the Octagon due to the injury he suffered ahead of UFC 295 last November, Jones has been very outspoken about Aspinall and a potential fight with him. It's been a huge talking point throughout this year with some accusing the champion of ducking the interim titleholder.
Whilst Jones has recently stated that he doesn't believe that the Brit has accomplished anything significant enough to make him interested in the fight, that isn't to say that Aspinall hasn't been someone that he's known about for a long time. This is something that Jones' long-time striking coach Brandon Gibson recently spoke about in an interview with Submission Radio.
Gibson revealed that Aspinall's rise to the top of the heavyweight division isn't surprising because he's a fighter that the team have had their eyes on for some time now, dating back to when Jones was planning his move to heavyweight during his long hiatus after vacating the light heavyweight belt.
No, no surprise at all. You know back in the day when Jon was originally making his move up to heavyweight, we thought Francis was going to be the opponent and we were studying the heavyweight landscape. Aspinall was a guy that we've always had our eye on, for years now. He's very smooth, great takedowns, he's a finisher and in heavyweight, that's a powerful thing. He has incredible footwork and defense so Aspinall's been a guy that we've already had an eye on for sure.
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