Word on the street is that Jon Jones is ducking Tom Aspinall. Ariel Helwani reported a few weeks ago that the UFC has agreed to pay undisputed champion Jones the ‘f–k you money’, which some speculate could be as high as $30 million he was asking to fight Aspinall, the interim champion. And the journalist strongly insinuated that if the fight doesn’t happen, it would be Jones’ fault.

Indeed, that is what most in the MMA community believe. Aspinall, after all, has already agreed and has been calling on ‘Bones’ to fight him for the past two years. From the beginning, the hold-up has been on the GOAT contender’s part, who will probably retire rather than fight the Englishman. Or so the narrative goes. But UFC analyst and former superstar Chael Sonnen, the independent thinker that he is, disagrees completely with it.

“Jon Jones is holding this fight up, he’s refusing to fight Tom Aspinall. Now, that may well be the truth. I’m just here to bring to you guys, we don’t have that evidence. Jon Jones will be offered a fight with Tom, or he cannot fight at all. And when you’re a prize fighter, electing to not fight does not make you good at negotiating, it makes you unemployed,” he said.

“And Jon Jones has done great, but Jon Jones has not made walkaway money. This whole idea that Jon Jones is holding this up, or Jon Jones is not going to fight Tom, at this point, you don’t have that evidence. And it’s nothing more right now than speculation,” ‘Uncle Chael’ added.

Indeed, the reason many think Jones might retire rather than fight Aspinall is because they think ‘Bones’ has made a lot of money in his career. But ‘Uncle Chael’, who does take a keen interest in the business side of things, doesn’t believe Jones has made walk-away-from-the-sport-forever money. Not to mention, if ‘Bones’ were to fight Aspinall, that would probably be the biggest paycheck of his career. So would walking away from the sport before he gets the biggest paycheck of his life really be something ‘Bones’ does?

Why do some think Jon Jones is hesitant to fight Tom Aspinall

The thing Jon Jones cares most about at the moment is his legacy. After all, the New Mexico resident is considered the greatest mixed martial artist of all time at the moment. And a large part of the case, many, including UFC CEO Dana White, make for his GOATdom is that he has never been defeated in the Octagon.

‘Bones’ has been fighting in the promotion since 2008, and has beaten all of his opponents (except Mark Hamill against whom he suffered a disqualification loss), and has won a record fifteen UFC title fights. So you can imagine that remaining undefeated means a lot to Jones.

Aspinall, like Jones, is a generational talent who has a remarkably well-rounded game. Moreover, he has the size advantage over ‘Bones’ and is younger and more athletic. Jones has even opened as the betting underdog in a possible clash against Aspinall. All of this to say that there is a good chance that Aspinall beats ‘Bones’. So to preserve his legacy and leave it untainted, Jones may well choose to walk away from the biggest potential paycheck of his life and retire without fighting Aspinall. What do you think about Sonnen’s take on the Jones-Aspinall situation?