What makes Tom Aspinall particularly interesting is that most of his opponents don’t stick around long enough to showcase their full skill set. With an average fight time of just over two minutes across ten UFC fights, Aspinall has turned the heavyweight division into his personal highlight reel. Now, he’s using this track record to poke holes in Jon Jones’ famous preparation strategy.
Aspinall’s logic is both simple and brilliant: You can’t study what you can’t see. While Jones typically spends hours analyzing his opponents’ tendencies, habits, and patterns, Aspinall’s fights have been much too short to do that. And that is what he believes will be Jones’ kryptonite.
”One of Jon Jones’ biggest advantages that he has over everybody is that he’s a tape studier…he loves to study opponents like this, he has no chance of doing that with me because my average fight time is the shortest in UFC history at 2 minutes, two seconds over 10 fights, and that’s something that keeps him up at night that will keep him up at night for sure I am a massive, massive question mark for him,” said Aspinall via The Ariel Helwani Show.
This psychological warfare from Tom Aspinall comes at an interesting time. Jones is fresh off his successful title defense against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309. He seemed more interested in retirement talks and potential super fights than facing the interim champ. But Aspinall isn’t buying it.
The whole situation has created a fascinating dynamic. Jones, the master tactician who’s always ten steps ahead, might finally face someone who’s basically saying, “Good luck planning for me – I’m a two-minute mystery!” It’s refreshing to see a fighter not just acknowledge Jones’ strategic prowess but actually use it against him in such a clever way.
Tom Aspinall Sees Weaknesses In Jon Jones’ Game
The fighting world has long viewed Jon Jones as an unsolvable puzzle in the octagon. For years, he’s dispatched challenger after challenger with a mix of creative striking and dominant wrestling. At UFC 309, Jones added another legendary name to his hit list by defeating Stipe Miocic in impressive fashion.
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Tom Aspinall watched the fight from a unique vantage point as the backup fighter at UFC 309. Being octagon-side gave him a different perspective than most, and he wasn’t exactly blown away by what he saw.
Tom Aspinall says he sees openings in Jon Jones’ game after seeing him fight in person 👀
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) November 17, 2024
“The speed [stood out]. There’s no chance that he can – I don’t want to say too much.”
🎥 @espnmma #UFC309 #UFC #MMApic.twitter.com/fIG5nrYrvM
Aspinall claimed that he spotted several openings in Jones’ game, though he’s playing it smart by keeping most of these observations close to his chest. The British knockout artist pointed to speed as one potential weakness in Jones’ arsenal. But that’s about all he was willing to share publicly.
Also Read: Jon Jones Vows To Do No Business With “A**Hole” Tom Aspinall Ahead Of UFC 309
