Stephen A. Smith is fired up about Jon Jones not fighting Tom Aspinall.
On Saturday, the UFC Heavyweight Champion and arguably the greatest fighter of all time officially retired from MMA, avoiding a title unification bout with interim champion Tom Aspinall in the process.
Jon Jones kept Aspinall waiting for nearly 600 days before he ultimately retired and fought a 42-year-old Stipe Miocic in his first title defense instead of Aspinall.
Jones has received much criticism following his retirement decision, including claims he’s ‘ducking’ the new undisputed champion.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLCStephen A. Smith expresses disappointment on Jon Jones retiring from UFC
Known for his fiery takes, sports personality Stephen A. Smith has given his thoughts on Jones retiring without unifying the title against Aspinall in one of the biggest fights in UFC history.
“I’m not going to accuse the greatest mixed martial artist I’ve ever seen in my life in Jon ‘Bones’ Jones,” Smith said of the retired UFC champion on ESPN’s First Take.
“I have that much admiration for him… Having said that, I’m incredibly, incredibly disappointed with this news,” Smith said of Jones’ retirement decision.
“[Jones] is absolutely phenomenal. He’s the real deal. He’s one of those dudes that a guy like Aspinall, he’s been on the record saying he just irritates me and annoys me. He doesn’t even want to be asked about Tom Aspinall during interviews.
“Well, now with your retirement, Aspinall is the undisputed heavyweight champion.”
Smith continued.
“My point is, if you are a fighter, which he is at a very elite level, and that’s the fight that people want to see, give us the fight that we wanna see.”
Stephen A. Smith to Jon Jones: ‘We wanna see you handle’ Tom Aspinall
Jones, 37, walks away from the UFC after 30 pro MMA fights, leaving behind what could be the biggest heavyweight fight of all time with Aspinall.
Despite guarantees that the fight would happen, UFC CEO White said he did all he could to get Jones to accept, but ultimately to no avail.
While Jones isn’t the biggest fan of Aspinall, Smith thinks he made a mistake in not fighting the British star.
“What do we complain about with boxing?” Smith continued.
“We complain about promoters and others getting in the way of us getting the fights that we wanna see when we wanna see it. And Jon ‘Bones’ Jones, he’s literally this kind of person.
“If you get on his nerves, one or two things will happen. They wanna kick your ass, which he’s fully capable of doing and does it at an elite level, or he’ll say to hell with you. I’m not gonna give you the privilege of fighting me because that fighter annoyed him.
“As opposed to looking at the audience out here spanning millions and millions of people who recognize your greatness and wanna see you against this guy who’s been calling you out for the longest time. Handle it. Then, retire if you want to…
“But don’t retire, because guess what? There’s not really a fight out there that you’re interested in.
“This guy irritates you. So to hell with it,” Smith said of why Jones should fight Aspinall.
‘I’m not gonna give him the privilege to fight me…’ It ain’t about that. That audience out there who loves you, who recognizes your unquestionable greatness, we wanna see you handle this guy!”