UFC Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall has hit back at Jon Jones, who continues to troll him following his no-contest against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 in October.
Aspinall’s first defense ended in a no-contest after an accidental double eye-poke in the first round from Gane left him unable to continue. Jones responded by changing his social media profile picture to a cartoon duck wearing an eye-patch, thus suggesting he quit. Jones later appeared at a Dirty Boxing Championship event arriving on a horse, which had one eye covered with an eye-patch.
Bones claimed to have “learned a lot about Tom”, specifically labeling the champion’s grappling “overrated.” Aspinall has since been diagnosed with Bilateral Brown’s syndrome, a rare eye condition that hinders vision, and has told Jones to focus on himself, especially since he had been chasing him for a fight, only for that to fail.
“Good for him, man. Good for him. I thought this guy was the GOAT? Focus on yourself bro, you’ve retired; just do your own thing. If you’re so much better than everyone else, just go enjoy yourself. Don’t worry about what I’m doing. I was trying to get a fight with him, but realized that wasn’t going to happen. But Jon is just doing some damage to himself out there, so I’ll let him do his thing,” Aspinall said
The Perception
And yet, this has raised questions over whether Tom has dealt with it the right way. Arnold Allen, who will face Jean Silva at UFC 324 in January, has had his say on the matter. Arnold is well aware of what it takes to suffer injuries, believing that he had broken his hand during his fight against Giga Chikadze at UFC 304. Should Aspinall have surgery then that is expected to keep him out for some time. Arnold has advised the heavyweight champion to stop complaining, which is only damaging his image.