Jon Jones may be struggling to win over the court of public opinion in his ongoing feud with Tom Aspinall, but Chael Sonnen believes there’s any easy way this could be solved.
“Jon does not enjoy that side of [MMA], he doesn’t understand it,” Sonnen said on his You’re Welcome podcast. “He thinks the most money, the most accolades should go to whoever can beat up the most people. So Jon could end it. He could end something that he doesn’t want to keep continuing by saying one word, which is yes. But you want to know something? Jon could also end this by saying one word, which is no. ‘No, I’m planning to do one more. My plans have not changed for you. I plan to fight Stipe Miocic, who’s great. Stipe might be the one to bring me down. We’ll find out that night, but he might not. That’d be another notch and it will be enough. My plans don’t involve you.’ He could do that.
“Daniel Cormier dismissed effectively Curtis Blaydes. I was there the night that he did it, he did it on the ESPN desk. He’d just got done fighting, Curtis had called him out and Daniel was a gentleman. He said, ‘Hey, that guy’s good. He’s got reach, his striking’s improved, a national champion wrestler, he’s younger, he’s got a great career in front of him. But he and I will never share the octagon.’ And Daniel didn’t say it’s because it’s not a competitive fight. He didn’t say he was better than him. He didn’t even say he could beat him. He said, ‘I’m a champion, I get [pay-per-view] points. I fight people that have big names. You don’t.’
“He leveled with him straight up,” Sonnen continued. “Never got into who’s better, whose legacy, who should remembered more. Daniel told the actual truth, which, ‘I can’t make any money fighting you. You’re a dangerous fight that doesn’t bring money. Winning fights doesn’t get you to me, just so you know. I know they’ve told you that, but it’s not true. I know the magazines tell you that getting a high ranking brings you to me — I’m letting you know now, it doesn’t. Win over the crowd that’s willing to stop what they’re doing, part with their money and time to watch you, and that’s how you get to me. And you didn’t do that.’
“It was so effective, it was never discussed again. Curtis Blaydes versus Daniel Cormier, when Daniel was champion, was never discussed again. So Jon Jones could come out and say, ‘You’re young and you’re good and I’m not looking for that. No.’ Or he could say, ‘You suck. No,’ but it would still be a definitive and he could end this. Or he could say, ‘Yes. Let’s stick with the plan. I have Stipe first and then I will come see you.’”
The feud between Jones, 36, and Aspinall, 30, has overtaken the UFC heavyweight division.
On one side is the debate is Jones, the reigning champion who won his belt in March 2023 with a first-round submission of Ciryl Gane and was supposed to fight Stipe Miocic this past November before injuries removed him from the bout. With Jones sidelined, Aspinall stepped into UFC 295‘s main event and demolished Sergei Pavlovich with a 69-second knockout to capture the interim UFC heavyweight championship. Aspinall has since campaigned relentlessly for a fight against either Jones or Miocic, while Jones has held firm in his refusal to pivot from the Miocic bout whenever he is able to return later this year.
Sonnen believes Jones is only making the situation worse for himself with the way in which he continues to communicate his message.
“One thing about it is, Jon hasn’t said yes and he hasn’t said no. He’s let it be very clear that this irritates him,” Sonnen said.
“It’s kind of like, why does he not get himself a driver? Why would he not part [with] some money? If you’re giving a stripper $10,000 that you’re never going to see again, why would you not hire a writer for $10,000? He’ll work, he’ll be there the whole year. That’s about what it would cost for somebody to manage your Twitter page — about $10,000 for the whole year for a real top guy, a WWE guy, a guy who has worked in Hollywood. A real top professional writer, that’s about what it would cost. And you know Jon doesn’t have a driver, that’s how he’s got DUIs, and you know he doesn’t have a writer, that’s why he’s got typos.”
“What is it that we’re doing? What is it we’re trying to do?” Sonnen continued. “Jon could end this by saying yes or no. Jon has the power either way. His reasons don’t matter, at all.
“There’s a way to get some clarity, there’s a way to muddy these waters, and there’s a way to do what Daniel did and say, ‘You’re just not popular.’ Whatever the reason is, you’ve got to give a guy an answer, yes or no, or we just keep doing this. Generally I would be OK [if this feud continued]. Like if this was Conor [McGregor] or somebody entertaining or fun, I would hope that it would continue. [But] you guys aren’t fun. This is boring.”
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