Jon Jones is playing ultimate mind games ahead of a potential clash against Tom Aspinall, according to his former opponent, Anthony Smith.
Earlier this week, UFC fans continued to label heavyweight champion Jon Jones a ‘duck’ as he was hounded by thousands of fans during an impromptu Instagram live.
Since defending his title against Stipe Miocic last November at UFC 309, Jones has continued to delay a title unification fight against Tom Aspinall, which has caused widespread frustration amongst the fans.
Jones’ biggest ever rival, Daniel Cormier, believes that Jones is afraid of becoming one of Aspinall’s highlights, and that is the reason why he continues to delay the fight.
Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLCJones accused of ‘mentally exhausting’ Tom Aspinall with continuous delaysDespite continuous delays on the side of Jones, UFC boss Dana White recently provided an update, stating that ‘Bones’ will definitely fight in 2025.
The next several Pay-per-view main events have already been announced, with the next opening being UFC 321, which is rumored to be taking place in Abu Dhabi in October.
Islam Makhachev is a likely frontrunner to headline that event in a title fight against the recently crowned welterweight champion, Jack Della Maddalena.
READ MORE: Jon Jones and Nate Diaz play down Islam Makhachev’s achievements amid pound-for-pound debateThat leaves the November PPV open for the 37-year-old to potentially defend his title against the Brit, in what is one of the biggest fights that can currently be made in the sport.
And ahead of that, Jones has been accused of ‘mentally exhausting’ Aspinall by his former opponent, Anthony Smith.
“Jon is a master manipulator and he is a master at mind games that are behind the sport, he’s been doing it for years against the best guys in the world,” Smith said on ESPN.
“I understand Aspinall has this fighter mindset… The person who cares the least in every negotiation, wins. Jon Jones does not care what Tom Aspinall wants and in fact, wants to do the complete opposite of what Aspinall wants.
“It’s one of the most exhausting things I’ve ever had to deal with, and I’ve got to respect it, Jon is the master at emotionally and mentally exhausting people and you can see it in Tom Aspinall already,” Smith continued.
Anthony Smith Believes Jon Jones Is Mentally Exhausting Tom Aspinall 🧠😮
“Jon is a master manipulator, and he’s a master at the mind games that are behind this sport. He’s been doing it for so many years against the best guys in the world. Jon Jones does not care what Tom… pic.twitter.com/DQIFx2zKyi
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) May 17, 2025 View Tweet
Paddy Pimblett implores the UFC strip Jon Jones of heavyweight titleIt is now getting to the point where fans are asking that the UFC strip Jones of his title and promote Aspinall to the undisputed champion.
However, it isn’t just fans who believe that Jones has overstayed his time as the champion as British UFC star, Paddy Pimblett has implored the promotion to strip him.
“If you’re making Islam (Makhachev) vacate, Jones needs to be stripped,” Pimblett told TNT Sports.
