After vacating his UFC light heavyweight title, Jon Jones was inactive for three years until he finally came back as a heavyweight.
He captured the heavyweight belt by submitting Ciryl Gane at UFC 285, but after suffering a significant injury, the champion has been gone for another long stretch of time.
During that time, there has been a lot of talk about fans wanting him to fight the interim champion Tom Aspinall, who many believe is the present and future of the weight class.
It looks far more likely that Jones will retire without facing Aspinall, after he meets Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 309 in November.
Daniel Cormier Says Jon Jones Would Fight Better Against Tom Aspinall If He Weighed Less
During his appearance on the Pound 4 Pound podcast, Daniel Cormier spoke about how Jones matches up with Aspinall.
Having faced “Bones” on two occasions, “DC” said that he thinks whilst Jones’ experience is an advantage, he’s been through a lot of gruelling fights during his career.
Cormier also said that another factor that makes him seriously consider whether Aspinall could be the first guy to beat the UFC heavyweight champion is the fact that Jones isn’t naturally suited to that weight class.
He spent a lot of time building himself up to that frame but as a result, will sacrifice the speed that he had at light heavyweight.
That makes Cormier believe that the heavyweight champ would fair better against a big, powerful and fast knockout artist like Aspinall if he was fighting at a smaller weight.
“All those guys that fought him [Jones] close, that takes its toll. I think that this kid [Aspinall] is as dangerous for him as anyone he’s ever been in there with. Partly because that’s not his weight class. If he’s at 205, I bet if he’s weighing 215 [pounds], he would fight Tom Aspinall better than him weighing 245-pounds. 220 in his 205 frame, he could fight Tom Aspinall better then he’d fight him at 250 because while he didn’t last long with Ciryl, he didn’t look as fast.”
Read also: MMA Analyst Explains Why He Doesn’t Consider Jon Jones A ‘Great Champion’
