- Conor McGregor insisted the Jon Jones vs Tom Aspinall showdown must happen
- Jones made first defence of heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309
Conor McGregor has insisted Jon Jones should take a fight with interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, noting ‘woeful’ recent sparring footage involving the latter.
At UFC 309 on Saturday Jones made his long-awaited return to the Octagon, taking on Stipe Miocic at Madison Square Garden.
Against the former champion Jones produced a vintage performance, dominating his opponent before scoring a third-round finish after dropping Miocic with a spinning back kick.
The victory marked Jones’ first title defence since moving up to heavyweight but post-fight all eyes turned to his next move.
Jones had previously hinted that he could step away from fighting following Saturday’s event, despite calls for him to unify his belt against Aspinall, who has won all but one of his fights inside the Octagon since debuting in 2020.
Speaking following the event Aspinall insisted that he believes the showdown will ultimately take place.
‘I think he secretly wants it,’ Aspinall told Ariel Helwani. ‘Because he has a gigantic ego, and he should have, he’s one of the best fighters ever. He hates the fact that people are saying that I could beat him, he can’t sleep at night.
‘He keeps mentioning it over and over again that he doesn’t care about me, he thinks he’s above me and all that. This is all projecting, all of it. He knows, deep down he knows and he just has to keep saying it because he has to defend himself.’
Asked if he believes he worries Jones Aspinall added: ‘I don’t think, I know.’
After the clip was widely circulated on social media, McGregor weighed in on the potential clash, claiming that Jones would be wise to take the fight.
‘That footage of him looking woeful vs Rico Verhoeven is good footage to watch for Jon,’ McGregor wrote in a now deleted tweet.
‘I’ve warmed to this matchup, I think it should happen.’
35-year-old Verhoeven is widely regarded as the greatest heavyweight kickboxer competing today, with his last loss coming nearly a decade ago.
The Dutchman is currently the heavyweight champion in Glory kickboxing, the promotion current UFC star Alex Pereira cut his teeth in before transitioning into MMA.
Verhoeven has trained alongside Aspinall for several years, and the latter shared clips of them sparring on his YouTube channel earlier this month.
