Opinion: Patience is Tom Aspinall’s Best Friend

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.

* * *
The mixed martial arts community has for many months had plentiful back-and-forths over whether or not Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder Jon Jones is scared to face interim champion Tom Aspinall. There’s no doubt Jones has been ducking Aspinall. The debate has centered on whether Jones is looking out for his bottom line or if he’s afraid to take on the physically impressive Englishman. If he’s genuinely scared, holding out for more money is a convenient excuse. Just ask Tito Ortiz about the tactic.

Jokes aside, I firmly believe Jones is using his reluctance to fight Aspinall as leverage for a bigger payday. However, this isn’t about debating the points of whether that’s true, though the fact that some believe Jones is genuinely scared of Aspinall is excellent proof of what I do believe to be true: Forcing Aspinall to the sidelines in this manner is proving to be beneficial for his career in the long run. The longer Jones dances around stepping in the cage with Aspinall, the more interest it creates in the contest. More interest creates more anticipation, which will mean a more lucrative fight for all parties involved. In the process, it also morphs Aspinall into a mythical creature of sorts. Who is this man the G.O.A.T. fears? While some may think less of Jones as a result of his hesitance, he’s smart enough to know the result of what’s going on and that all the hullabaloo is just as beneficial for him as it is for Aspinall. That’s an easy argument to make. However, it goes well beyond the spotlight Jones happens to be putting on him. In a roundabout way, it’s likely making the long-term viability of Aspinall as a star—beyond his rivalry with Jones—that much more effective.

There’s something to be said for being a special attraction who only appears sporadically. Of course, one needs to have established himself as something worthy of being a special attraction before making himself scarce. Aspinall has done that. In the course of four years, he fought a total of nine times in the UFC, going 8-1. The lone loss resulted from his blowing out his knee a mere 15 seconds into a fight with Curtis Blaydes—a setback he managed to avenge two years later in a minute flat. In fact, Aspinall’s eight wins all came well before going to the judges’ scorecards, with just one reaching the second round. Six of those wins took under two minutes. If that type of fighter isn’t a special attraction, I don’t know who qualifies.

Now that Aspinall has established himself in that manner, it’s a good time to make himself scarce. Scarcity makes things valuable. Gold isn’t valuable because it’s everywhere; it’s valuable because it’s a rarity. Christmas comes but once a year. Same with birthdays. There’s always far more hype around those events than a generic weekend. Sure, we all enjoy a traditional two-day break from work, but we also get 52 weekends a year. Then again, those weekends are also scarce in comparison to work days. There’s another good reason for Aspinall to make himself scarce at this point, beyond just building hype for his inevitable showdown with Jones. Who else is there for Aspinall to fight once he and Jones have finished their business? Aspinall has already defeated about half of the viable contenders within the heavyweight division at this point. With wins over Blaydes, Sergei Pavlovich and Alexander Volkov in such a manner that there’s little desire to see rematches, there’s a severe shortage of intriguing matches for Aspinall going forward. Outside of those three, there’s Ciryl Gane and Jailton Almeida. That’s about it for the next several years.

There’s major risk to facing opposition that doesn’t pose a realistic threat, at least on paper. That’s something Jones knows all about. While Jones’ rivalry with Daniel Cormier is one of the all-time best—not to mention doing well in terms of pay-per-view buys—he didn’t do so hot against opponents who merely represented the next one up, outside of those he had already defeated. After Jones regained the light heavyweight championship with a dominant win in a rematch with Alexander Gustafsson, he turned in three title defenses in the space of a year. Those he defended against: Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos and Dominick Reyes. Not exactly world-beaters who will be talked about in a mythical status down the road. In each of those appearances, there was minimal excitement and low buys, and Jones came close to losing the title more than once.

Jones’ reputation took a hit following that string of victories. Critics began to question if he was washed up, given that these were opponents he was supposed to walk over. Yes, he was winning, but winning wasn’t enough against the level of opposition he was facing. That stretch did nothing for Jones’ legacy—something he’s more concerned about preserving in this day and age.

Aspinall would do well to learn a thing or two from Jones. What good is it going to do Aspinall if he gets his match against Jones within the first half of 2025, gets the win and immediately plows through the rest of the field by the middle of 2026? Are people going to be anxious to see Aspinall defend his belt against Jairzinho Rozenstruik? Rozenstruik doesn’t sell tickets and isn’t going to add much for Aspinall’s legacy. As opposed to beating as many people as possible, Aspinall would be better off getting the best bang for his buck by cloaking himself in a veil of mystery, by making his appearances infrequent and by only appearing when an opponent has truly proven himself worthy of a title shot rather than just being the next one up. It’s not like fighting frequently made Demetrious Johnson a draw.

I recognize the landscape is ever-changing. It’s plausible the UFC could sign the next star of the heavyweight division tomorrow and he could blaze a path to the title in two years. If the company were to do so, Aspinall should play the same game Jones is presently playing. From the perspective of a fan, it’s frustrating, as we want to see the best fighters do their thing as often as possible. Then again, kids wish every day was Christmas. Seeing them fight as much as possible would kill what makes them special. Aspinall would be wise to learn that. The funny thing? Jones may be helping him learn that lesson as we speak.