UFC interim heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall commented on the behavior of the division’s current champion, Jon Jones, who not only defiantly removed his hand from his shoulder during a face-to-face meeting the previous day, but also refused to hold a staredown with the Brit.
“He seemed to think I had put my hand on his shoulder, showing disrespect, but I didn’t,” Aspinall told JNMEDIAUK. “I wasn’t there to be disrespectful. I did it in a friendly way and I wasn’t trying to provoke conflict. I’m just trying to fight the guy and get his belt. I don’t have any animosity towards him and I just wanted to face him, in a friendly way, nothing crazy.”
The British heavyweight also reiterated that he is ready to defend his championship belt against Curtis Blades, who rounds out the division’s top five.
“There’s Curtis Blades, and I’m the kind of person who’s the easiest person to get a fight with – I’ve never turned down a fight. What’s keeping me out of fights right now is not up to me – it’s the UFC’s decision. I’m just waiting for them to tell me who I’m going to fight and when, and I’ll be ready”
Jon Jones was scheduled to go out for his title defense against Stipe Miocic last November, but tore a pectoral muscle and pulled out of the fight, while Tom Aspinall won the interim championship belt at UFC 295 with a first-round knockout of Sergey Pavlovic.
Source: https://fighttime.ru/news/item/34202-tom-aspinall-otreagiroval-na-postupok-dzhona-dzhonsa.html?rand=19907
