Daniel Cormier believes Jon Jones could be ‘legitimately knocked out’ by Tom Aspinall.
And that is something, in his eyes, that could prove to be a ‘big worry’ for Jones.
Cormier fought current UFC heavyweight champion Jones twice during his 11-year illustrious MMA career.
Both men were UFC light-heavyweight champions in their heyday, but Jones has moved up a weight class to rule the heavyweight division since Cormier left the sport in 2020.
Jones won heavyweight gold after a three-year hiatus from the sport in March 2023 when he submitted Ciryl Gane in 124 seconds.
However, the 37-year-old has defended the belt just once since then, stopping Stipe Mioicic, 42, at UFC 309 in November.
Cormier cited his fights with a younger Jones in the UFC when explaining why a bout with Aspinall could leave the champion afraid of being knocked out.
“Jon is now a 37-year-old man looking at a 32-year-old man that’s bigger, younger, fresher, and going — it’s flipped,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel.
“He saw with Stipe, he looked older from all that time away. Now he’s looking down at a young man, and he’s like, ‘Eh.’
“He’s not scared, make no mistake about it, but I think it’s enough to question.
“And you know what I think a big worry might be for him? With Aspinall, he could potentially get knocked out.
“Like, legitimately knocked out and put on his back out cold. I just don’t know that he wants to have that visual of him in the world.”
“I’ve seen myself get beat, and I’m like, ‘God, that’s such a horrible visual every time.’”
UFC fans are growing in frustration as negotiations regarding a potential fight between Jones and Aspinall drag out.
If fact, some have taken the issue into their own hands, with a petition calling for the UFC to strip Jones of his title if he doesn’t defend it against Aspinall nearing 140,000 signatures.
“I don’t know that [Jones] vacates without fighting [Aspinall],” Cormier added.
“Because I think the visual and the lasting thought would be that, ‘He ran from him,’ and I don’t know his ego could handle that he ran from someone.
“The idea that people would think he is afraid means more to him than going out there and fighting him and taking the chance, especially when there’s a real possibility that he just outclasses Tom Aspinall.
“There’s a real possibility that he goes out there and he just outclasses Tom Aspinall. You don’t know.
“So I think that he will fight him. I don’t think they’ll need to strip him, I think he’ll fight him. And even though he could walk away and go, ‘I’m the best, I don’t need to do anything else.’
“The idea that he ran is going to be too strong of a pull for him as he goes into the next phase of his career.”
Fan may be getting fed up with waiting for the UFC to make an announcement, but Jones seems like he’s enjoying dragging it out.
He sent the MMA world into a frenzy last week when he told his friend he was ‘done’ with his career, only to then issue mixed messages on his Instagram that suggest otherwise.
Jones has previously told fans that he has ‘no clue’ why the UFC haven’t announced his future yet, insisting that he told the promotion his plans ‘a long time ago.’
Aspinall, meanwhile, set an unfortunate record last month when he became the UFC’s longest-reigning interim champion of all time.
He defended his interim status against Curtis Blaydes in his last fight in July, eight months after collective his first piece of gold by knocking out Sergei Pavlovich.
“Me personally? I can’t do anything,” Aspinall said, speaking in May on what he can do to make the fight with Jones happen.
“I think it’s just down to money on his side, so I will fight whenever, wherever he wants, but it’s down to money I think.
“I just think that at this stage in his career, he’s had an amazing career. I just think that he’s like 37, 38 years old, but not only that, he’s got a million miles on the clock.
“So he’s got a lot of damage on the body, took a lot of shots to the head, and that’s not me saying anything negative about that’s the reality of it.
“I’m sure Jon Jones is aware of that; when you put him in with – I’m not trying to blow my own trumpet – but I’m literally the most dangerous guy in the UFC if you look at the stats.”
Aspinall has the shortest average fight time in UFC history, having finished seven of his eight victories in the promotion in the first round.
