Reigning UFC heavyweight champion, Jon Jones, recently enlisted the services of Gordon Ryan, the world’s top no-gi grappler, to help train him for the heavyweight contenders looking to break “Bones” in 2025 and beyond.
That includes interim 265-pound titleholder, Tom Aspinall.
But the streaking Brit has a new ally in Craig Jones, who could serve to nullify the Ryan effect. The Aussie faced “King” multiple times over the years (and even trained on the same squad) and is probably best equipped to teach Aspinall the necessary defense.
From Instagram:
The plot thickens.
Jones has already helped Alex Volkanovski and Jack Della Maddalena prepare for their respective title wins earlier this year and could (eventually) repeat the performance — assuming “Bones” ever comes back from Thailand to defend his heavyweight belt.
So what’s the hold up?
“When you put him in with, I’m not trying to blow my own trumpet, but I’m literally the most dangerous guy in the UFC if you look at the stats,” Aspinall told High Performance podcast. “When you put him in with a guy of my size who has the credentials at this stage in his career, I think Jon’s a smart guy, and he realizes that. So he wants compensating financially for it.”
Until then, it’s just a “massive pain in the ass.”
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
