“Closed Mouths Don’t Get Fed” – ‘Nice Guy’ Tom Aspinall Has Only Himself to Blame for Jon Jones, Alex Pereira Scenario

UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall will probably never get to fight Jon Jones. After all, the ‘undisputed’ champ has previously indicated that he will put up his gloves after fighting Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 next weekend. Fans, of course, desperately want to witness a title unification bout for good measure.

But CBS analyst and prominent MMA voice Luke Thomas believes that Aspinall just hasn’t done enough to make fans desperate enough. The reason- Aspinall is too Nice. “Honestly, I’m not saying you have to go the Colby Covington route. But being the buddy buddy guy what is that done for him [Aspinall]? It’s done nothing you know what I mean,” Thomas said on his YouTube channel.

On the other hand, the analyst cautioned Aspinall against being someone he isn’t since that would come off as forced and cringe. But, unfortunately, Thomas felt “that might result in them just telling Tom you got to defend this f***ing interim title again.”

If that is, “Jon loses to Stipe like you’re gonna have to run that one back. And like Tom’s just gonna be sitting there. It doesn’t even make sense. That is precisely why Thomas wants to see Aspinall channel his inner ‘Conor McGregor’ and start riling up Jones. This hopefully, would create even more hype among the fans and pave the way for a unification bout. After all, Jones has said that he will be willing to fight light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira after Miocic during an interview with Kevin Iole. Thomas feels that clearly shows Jones may fight after UFC 309, but the prize has to be big enough.

“But the reality is you just have to look at it for what it is like dude nice guys finish last. That’s the fight game… But you know in general the reality is closed mouths don’t get fed. You really really have to go after these guys and you know create an incentive for the fans to be like ‘I want that’,” he added. But UFC CEO Dana White is far more optimistic on the matter.

Dana White hopeful Jon Jones or Miocic will fight Aspinall after UFC 309

Dana White feels that the speculations and indications that Jones (or indeed Miocic) will retire after UFC 309 are a bit exaggerated. In a recent interview, the UFC CEO claimed that he “truly believes” whoever clinches the heavyweight title will not be content to just retire when there is still an interim champion to take care of.

“I truly believe that whoever wins this fight, just competitively the way that these guys are wired and the reason that they’re both massive legends in the sport, they’re not going to just ride off into the sunset without settling the dispute with Tom Aspinall,” he said.

Of course, that is what the head honcho would want to happen. But on the other hand, Jones has shut down any talks of him ever fighting Aspinall and has instead expressed interest in going down the road of facing ‘Poatan’ as a better-suited bout for his legacy. Some feel that the GOAT contender just doesn’t want to risk taking his first real loss right before his retirement. Aspinall, after all, is a generational talent and has all the tools to defeat Jones.

However, Miocic, who hasn’t spoken about retiring after UFC 309 may be much more amenable to fighting the interim champ. But only if he can defeat Jon Jones next weekend. What do you think about Thomas’ take on Aspinall’s failure to create hype for a Jon Jones fight?