Jon Jones rips Tom Aspinall's skills after UFC 321: 'His wrestling and jiu-jitsu are incredibly overrated'

Jon Jones isn't impressed with Tom Aspinall after UFC 321. Aspinall's fight against Ciryl Gane didn't last one full round, due to a fight-ending accidental eye poke. Still, it was long enough for Jones to make critical claims about Aspinall's limitations.

Jones' remarks are the first time he's acknowledged Aspinall's fight beyond trivial jabs, such as arriving at last week's Dirty Boxing event riding a horse with an eyepatch. Jones claimed the UFC heavyweight champion's skills amounted to little more than great athleticism and a terrific straight-cross combination. 

"Tom's a great athlete, but I do feel like he's a one-trick pony," Jones told the "No Scripts" podcast this week. "I believe that his wrestling and jiu-jitsu are incredibly overrated. He has a beautiful one-two [combination]. I got to learn a lot about his patterns in his last fight. That's really about it.

"That's the one thing that he's setting up real nice. He couldn't touch Ciryl Gane at all. That's the way I felt."

UFC 321 results, takeaways: Bad luck keeps finding Tom Aspinall, Mackenzie Dern finally gets her moment

Brian Campbell

Jones isn't the only one critical of Aspinall's performance on Oct. 25. Fighters and fans are split into two camps: those who believe Aspinall took the easy way out and those who think he legitimately could not continue after receiving a double eye poke. The fight's momentum is a key point of contention among spectators. Gane bloodied Aspinall's nose in Round 1, slightly outstriking him and fending off the champion's only takedown attempt. However, it's difficult to predict the outcome of any fight, particularly a 25-minute main event, off of one incomplete round. 

"I felt like Gane was just getting warmed up," Jones said. "Gane's hands were down, he's shaking his shoulders, bouncing around. He was touching him. He was so comfortable."

It's not surprising Jones is making the most of Aspinall's misfortune. Jones was heavily criticized for refusing to unify his undisputed heavyweight championship with then-interim champion Aspinall. Ultimately, Jones retired and vacated his title in June, only to unretire shortly after Aspinall was promoted to undisputed champ and an event at the White House was announced for next year.