Firas Zahabi makes bold claim about Tom Aspinall's status as heavyweight great

Firas Zahabi had very high praise for UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.

Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) is campaigning for a title-unification bout with heavyweight champ Jon Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC), but Tristar Gym head coach Zahabi doubts it happens.

After Jones finished Stipe Miocic to retain his heavyweight belt at UFC 309, he argued that a fight with light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira does more for his legacy than Aspinall.

“I don’t think Jon Jones is going to fight Aspinall,” Zahabi said on his YouTube channel. “There was a once upon a time I thought he would and he could win. But now I went over Aspinall’s fights, and I’m thinking this is the man who can beat Jon Jones.

“At heavyweight, this is going to be a dangerous fight. Jon is not crazy. Jon is going to go down to fight Pereira, but I don’t think the UFC gives him Periera – I don’t think so. He has to fight Aspinall or nothing. I don’t think the UFC wants Jon Jones to beat Alex Pereira – which I think he would. He would crush Pereira.”

Zahabi thinks Aspinall is a bad matchup for Jones and everyone else in the division. He went as far as calling Aspinall the greatest heavyweight to ever do it.

“I think he could be the man who beats Jon Jones and finishes Jon Jones,” Zahabi said of Aspinall. “I don’t think anybody can last more than two rounds with Aspinall – nobody in the world. Now, pound-for-pound? That would be a different story. But the fact that he’s the biggest, strongest guy in the world at heavyweight, I don’t know if anybody can beat him.

“A lot of people are saying Miocic is the greatest heavyweight of all time. No, he’s not. He was the greatest heavyweight of all time. Then Ngannou dethroned him and Ngannou proved to be the greatest heavyweight of all time. Now in my mind, unofficially of course, it’s Tom Aspinall, the greatest heavyweight of all time.”