Jon Jones is still yet to come back to the Octagon after suffering a devastating pectoral injury. Does the delay mean that his toughest fight ever has changed? Stipe Miocic is the man he was meant to face at UFC 295 but that never happened and Miocic is a brutal fighter in his own right.

However, in a recent turn of events, Curtis Blaydes achieved a knockout victory against Jailton Almeida at UFC 299. So, does that bring Blaydes closer to a title fight than Miocic? Not entirely. But there is one strong voice that believes Blaydes would be Jones’ toughest fight.

Is Curtis Blaydes better than Jon Jones?

There is a very small age gap of three years between Jon Jones and Curtis Blaydes. However, that may not be the factor that’s most dominant. Blaydes has not achieved nearly as many feats as ‘Bones’ who has torn down former champions like it meant nothing.

But for a man who once faced Jones himself, Chael Sonnen is fairly confident that Curtis Blaydes could give Jones a run for his money. Sonnen has a brilliant channel dedicated to all things MMA and he recently opened up about the state that the heavyweight division was in.

“I got to tell you from the X’s and O’s, just the pure skills.” Sonnen said. “Punches kicks wrestling size height everything that you would throw all the ingredients that you would throw into the backs, the box. Here Curtis is as skilled of heavyweight as I can think of Curtis by X’s and O’s is the most difficult fight for Jon Jones in the heavyweight division.”

No one could argue against Sonnen’s take not only because it’s him saying it but also because it’s fairly well analyzed. Blaydes is certainly a highly skilled fighter that could take on Jones. Unfortunately for him, he might have to go up against Tom Aspinall first. And Jones doesn’t see an Aspinal fight very closely after his Miocic bout.

Jones and Aspinall, where’s the story?

Jon Jones said in a recent conversation that his next fight would decide the fate of his career going forward. Does this mean he would retire soon? Potentially. Retirement rumors for the heavyweight crown have been afloat for some time now and all he’s done is fuel them by cryptic Instagram posts that came ahead of his UFC 295 bout cancellation.

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Will Jones fight Aspinall soon then? There’s no talk of it just yet. First, he wants to fight Miocic and perhaps then if he decides to continue with his career, an Aspinall fight could be on its way. That is if Aspinall is still the number 1 contender at the time.

Will the two clash in the future? If they do, which heavyweight will reign supreme. Jones is now 36 years old and perhaps retirement isn’t such a bad idea but one can bet on him going out on his own terms. What is your take on it all?

Also Read: Curtis Blaydes Losses: Francis Ngannou, Derrick Lewis, and All Defeats Faced by UFC HW Star