Tom Aspinall has given the one reason why Jon Jones cannot be considered the greatest fighter of all time.
Aspinall is the current UFC interim heavyweight champion and has been calling for a fight with Jones to unify the division for months now to no avail.
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Jones is the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion and defended the belt for the first time against 42-year-old Stipe Miocic last month.
He blasted out Miocic with a sickening spinning back kick in the third round of their UFC 309 main event clash at Madison Square Garden, New York City.
Both men are arguably the two best heavyweights of all time, but it was Aspinall’s name that was discussed most in the buildup to the bout.
‘Bones’, 37, has continued to snub the Manchester native and has been insistent on preferring a fight with UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira instead.
Aspinall joined Piers Morgan for a fiery one-on-one interview on Friday and he didn’t pull any punches when discussing Jones.
“Let me first start by saying Jon is absolutely elite,” Aspinall says.
“And I completely agree with the notion that he’s one of the best fighters ever.”
Morgan responds by asking the 31-year-old if Jones can be classified as the greatest UFC fighter ever – in the same light as UFC CEO Dana White brands him.
“Potentially,” Aspinall responds. “But the way that I look at it is, he has failed a couple of drug tests.
“To me, that rules you out of being the best of all time. For me personally, yeah.”
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Morgan retorts: “Does it make him a cheat?”
“Yeah, of course it does,” Aspinall replies. “Yeah, yeah, if you’re on steroids or whatever, I don’t think he was on steroids, but he was on PEDs, performance enhancing drugs.
“If you’re on PEDs and your opponent isn’t, that’s absolutely cheating, in my book – unless you’re both allowed to do it!”
Morgan then presses Aspinall if he has ever taken anything like steroids or PEDs.
“Absolutely not,” he says. “When I retire I will yeah, absolutely, to keep my body healthy.
“Your body stops producing testosterone after a while. To be a healthy older gentleman I’ll probably do some kind of testosterone replacement therapy.
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“…But I think when you fight in MMA, you absolutely shouldn’t be using PEDs.”
Jones first tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs or PEDs in the buildup to his proposed bout with Daniel Cormier at UFC 200.
The two banned substances were hydroxy clomiphene and letrozole metabolite, both known to be anti-estrogens.
He then tested positive again in 2017 after returning from a one-year suspension to finally fight Cormier in July of the same year.
This led to his knockout victory over Cormier being reverted to a no contest, as ‘Bones’ failed a pre-fight urine test before the event.
His urine tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid, Turinabol, which helps muscles grow and become stronger, while also aiding recovery.
Jones was then banned for 15 months and returned to the octagon in December 2018, when he retained his UFC light heavyweight title against Alexander Gustafsson.
According to numbers from U.S Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), Jones was the most tested UFC fighter in 2020.
Aspinall, however, adds that Jones should be allowed to fight him, if he’s not using any drugs now.
UFC president White has described the potential unification bout between Aspinall and Jones as the ‘biggest heavyweight fight in UFC history’.
He also said at UFC 309’s pre-fight press conference that the winner of Jones vs Mioicic should ‘absolutely’ fight Aspinall.
To date, Jones remains dismissive of a clash, revealing he would only consider it for ‘f*** you money’.
There is yet to be any announcement from White or the UFC regarding any potential fight.
For the full interview go to Piers Morgan Uncensored on YouTube.
