Even though Jon Jones isn’t a participant at UFC Baku, he succeeded in entering the conversation. But it happened for all the bad reasons. Right now, the MMA world wants nothing but a superfight to unite the heavyweight belts held by Jones and Tom Aspinall. And while the interim heavyweight champion has been chasing after the fight, ‘Bones’ has been keen on avoiding it altogether. Ultimately, it got to the point where Aspinall got frustrated with the matchup. But during the prelim fights at UFC Baku, Jones got a shoutout. And it was definitely not in a good way. 

With the lackluster proceedings and the hefty pause in the heavyweight division, the entire MMA world has been blaming Jones’ inactivity and unwillingness to fight Aspinall. The fans and professionals alike have branded the heavyweight champion a ‘duck’. Standing against Bones’s decision to avoid the interim champion, Michael Bisping had previously lashed out at him. 

Taking to his YouTube channel, the former UFC middleweight champion said, “If you are the champion, you have an obligation to the sport, to the fans, and to everyone else in the division. To honor and defend that title or to move on.” But things got a bit more intense with his comment at UFC Baku. 

During the first fight of the evening, as Muhammad Usman and Hamdy Abdelwahab clashed against each other, Brendan Fitzgerald quoted Rashad Evans’ code word. He said, “Rashad Evans using a code word ‘Jon Jones’. Let’s see what that move is for [Muhammad] Usman.” That’s when Bisping blurted out, “Duck!” However, he claimed that it was nothing but a joke. “It’s a joke, everyone,” ‘The Count’ clarified. 

While the matchup between Jones and Aspinall has begun to lose its appeal, Dana White provided the champion with 2 weeks to respond. Else, the UFC will move on and set Aspinall up against someone else. But in case Jones accepts the bout and agrees to fight Aspinall, who will Bisping support? 

Michael Bisping has his faith in Tom Aspinall for the win if the Jon Jones fight ever materializes

Talking about the heavyweight belt unification matchup, Bisping showered his support for Aspinall. He said, “I think Tom Aspinall is the new generation, he’s the new breed, and he will go down probably as the greatest mixed martial artist that we’ve ever had. He’s elite as a heavyweight. A lot of the heavyweights are very good, they’re very strong, they’re powerful, but they’re not as quick and as agile and as technical as Tom.”

According to ‘The Count’, Aspinall was the Georges St-Pierre of the heavyweight division. There are no weak areas in the Brit’s game, and he has a phenomenal knockout power. But can he stand tall against someone like Jon Jones? He hasn’t really fought anyone like him. On the other hand, Jones has fought some crazy strong opponents in the past. But he hasn’t fought someone like Aspinall, who is being dubbed the next generation of heavyweights. 

Bisping concluded, “I would be very surprised – and this sounds disrespectful, but I’d be very surprised if it got out of the first round.” He had his faith in the agile and technical Tom Aspinall. Bisping’s stance was based on the fact that Aspinall has won his last five fights via first-round knockouts. And 11 of his 15 wins have come via KO/TKO, while the other 4 came via submission. 

But what’s your opinion on the fight between Jones and Aspinall? Will it really materialize? Or will Aspinall have to move on?