Another heavyweight says Jon Jones is not the real UFC champion

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been dominating the headlines lately, in part because UFC president Dana White called him the best pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC. But he's also been heavily criticized lately for refusing to fight former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and refusing to face UFC interim champion Tom Aspinall. Aspinall is scheduled to return to the Octagon, where he will defend his interim title against Curtis Blaydes on July 27 at UFC 304. The fight was supposed to be a title unification bout, but that won't happen, thanks to Jones.

Curtis Blaydes criticizes Jon Jones as not being a real heavyweight champion

Curtis Blaydes believes Jon Jones still has to prove himself

For this reason and several other factors, Blaydes does not recognize Jones as a legitimate champion. Jon won the heavyweight belt from Ciryl Gane, who won the belt from [nobody],” Blaydes said on the MMA Hour. “I know Jon is going to hear this and say, 'What? You don't think I'm the best heavyweight?!' No, Jon, I don't think you've ever fought a heavyweight. I'm sorry. To me, Aspinall is the guy with the real belt. You can't say anything bad about him.”

He continued: “I have to be honest, Jon doesn't look like a heavyweight. When he got in the cage with Ciryl Gane, I'm sure I wasn't the only one who thought he looked a bit top-heavy. He could have proved me wrong. He could have fought Aspinall and proved everyone wrong, but he wants Stipe.”

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Jones won the heavyweight title when he defeated Ciryl Gane in March 2023 at UFC 285. Before that, he hadn't fought for nearly three years. He was then scheduled to face Miocic in November 2023 at UFC 295, but canceled the fight due to injury. In his place, Aspinall took on Sergei Pavlovich, who was slated to replace him for the fight. Aspinall shocked the world when he defeated Pavlovich with a brutal first-round knockout within weeks. Since then, fans have criticized Jones for seemingly avoiding Aspinall to fight Miocic instead.

Former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub also spoke out against Jones. “You'll hear this story from Jon Jones himself, Ciryl Gane and their fans that Tom Aspinall doesn't deserve it,” Schaub said on his show Thiccc Boy. “They'll say he's not a real champion and all that stuff. Tom Aspinall is the best heavyweight in the world and what do you hear from these other camps that represent these other heavyweights? Nobody wants to fight Tom.”