One fighter with experience getting the better of Tom Aspinall has explained how Jon Jones could do the same against the interim UFC heavyweight champion.
While Aspinall has remained unbeatable on MMA’s biggest stage outside of a freak injury 15 seconds into his first fight with Curtis Blaydes, his record isn’t totally spotless.
The British powerhouse suffered two defeats in his first six fights as a professional, with the first coming via heel hook submission against Stuart Austin at BAMMA 21 in 2015.
During a recent interview with talkSPORT, Austin reflected on his successful performance against the now-UFC star a decade ago. He suggested that Jones’ path to victory lies in the same realm he was able to dispatch of Aspinall.
“The big thing that hasn’t been tested in the UFC has been his wrestling,” Austin said. “If you want to look back at me, I outwrestled him. Obviously he’s got a lot better since then. He’s been doing wrestling classes, he’s better at everything. He’s better with his distance management. He’s better with his MMA in general. You’ve seen moments like when he took down (Andrei) Arlovski, he did a really, really smooth takedown in that fight.
“But I think clinch and wrestling would probably be the way to go for Jon,” Austin continued. “Because if he strikes with Aspinall, I think there’s only one person going to win that fight.”
Aspinall’s striking has been on full display in recent times, with the Manchester native stopping Marcin Tybura, Sergei Pavlovich, and Curtis Blaydes for three consecutive first-round knockouts.
Whether or not he’ll have an opportunity to add Jones to his list of victims remains to be seen. Though the champ has been widely criticized for not unifying the titles, he’s still yet to express firm interest in facing Aspinall.
