Jon Jones wants the money, not the status — that’s how Curtis Blaydes sees it.
Whether it’s on a forum, a podcast, or a group chat, the name Jon Jones will inevitably come up when you have a group of people talking about the greatest of all time in mixed martial arts — and for good reason. After all, Jones is a former light heavyweight champion who ran through a gauntlet of 205-pound legends like Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Glover Teixeira, and Daniel Cormier.
Ready for a change in scenery, ‘Bones’ disappeared from the scene for three years before re-emerging as a heavyweight determined to claim another division’s gold. He did exactly that at UFC 285, dispatching Ciryl Gane in just over two minutes to claim the vacant heavyweight belt.
He has not defended the title since.
Jones was scheduled to square off with former two-time champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 in November, but a pectoral injury forced him to bow out of the bout, paving the way for Tom Aspinall to win the interim heavyweight title with a 69-second KO of Sergei Pavlovich.
Since then, fans have been clamoring for Jones to fight Aspinall in a unification clash. Sadly, it looks as though that won’t be happening as ‘Bones’ has remained adamant that he will fight Miocic. Appearing on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Curtis Blaydes slammed Jones’ decision to duck Aspinall, suggesting that the Rochester, NY native is choosing money over legacy.
“I don’t see him as a heavyweight,” Blaydes said. “He can prove me wrong. He could have fought Aspinall and proved everyone wrong. But he wants Stipe, and I get that. That’s the money fight. He took the money over the prestige and recognition, which is fine. But if you’re gonna do that, people aren’t gonna view you as the guy, because you went for the money fight instead of the recognition fight.”
Curtis Blaydes doesn't view Jon Jones as a heavyweight and feels Tom Aspinall is "the guy with the real belt" 👀
"He looked a little top heavy. He doesn’t really have the legs of a heavyweight. I don’t view him as a heavyweight."
▶️ https://t.co/dsNMiCLCdy #TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/1PKjuZKLhD
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) June 5, 2024
Blaydes also believes that Aspinall is “the guy with the real” heavyweight belt, making their clash at UFC 306 on July 27th for the undisputed world title — at least in his mind.
Curtis Blaydes is Confident Jon Jones Will Return After the Miocic Fight
Unfortunately, Jon Jones is the undisputed heavyweight king, whether fans like it or not, and that won’t change until either he drops the title or retires. Blaydes believes it will be the latter.
“I fully believe [Jones will retire],” Blaydes said. “He’ll have to prove us wrong. That’s what I believe. That’s what a lot of guys think. Obviously we talk about these things at the gym, I have the perspective of other fighters, other coaches, other people in the MMA world, and I haven’t heard anyone who really believes that he isn’t going to retire.
“Because why wouldn’t he [retire]?” Blaydes said. “What else does he have to prove? He’s rich. He’s got the status. He’s the GOAT. That’s not deniable. He’s on the Mount Rushmore for anybody. I don’t see what brings him back into the Octagon after the Stipe fight.”
Watch the full episode below:
