Cain Velasquez believes Jon Jones beats Tom Aspinall.

In November, Jones successfully defended his heavyweight title with a third-round TKO over Stipe Miocic at UFC 309. Following his win, Jones called for a fight with light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, instead of a unification bout with interim champion Tom Aspinall, saying he’d only entertain the Aspinall fight for “f*ck you money.” Some fans took that as a sign that Jones is ducking Aspinall, but former heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez does not agree.

“No, I don’t think he [beats Jon Jones],” Velasquez told Ariel Helwani when talking about Aspinall. “Me, just watching him, I kind of see his pattern a little bit in his striking, the way he comes in and strikes. I think Jon sees it too. So, I think with that — Jon studies. He does his homework. He’s a master at this. He analyzes things, he studies you over and over again. I think just for that reason, he’s going to know what to do. So I don’t think [Aspinall] beats Jon.”

Velasquez knows a thing or two about what he’s saying. The former two-time UFC heavyweight champion was once viewed as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world and is the longtime friend and training partner of Jones’s rival Daniel Cormier. And knowing the lay of the land as he does, Velasquez believes Jones has the requisite skillset to punish Aspinall for slight mistakes.

“Everybody has a fight pattern,” Velasquez explained. “Some people disguise it better than others. The simple fact is the way Tom, the way that he comes in and fights, he has a pattern that’s somewhat easier to find. When he comes in and strikes.

“A lot of things come with that. It’s disguising the pattern, it’s throwing fakes before. But when he comes in and attacks, he comes in and attacks. It’s 100 percent, full go. He comes in and glides in, lunges in, and does his attack. Not that it’s not effective, it is! He’s done great things with it. Look where he’s at now. I’m not taking anything away from him. But I think that the type of guy that Jon Jones is, I think he studies him and he beats him because of that.”

At this time there is nothing official about a fight between Jones and Aspinall, though rumors recently began to swirl when UFC commentator Joe Rogan suggested he heard the UFC was willing to pay Jones’s asking price for the matchup.

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VIDEO STEW

Jan Blachowicz interview.

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Top UFC prospects to watch in 2025.

A couple free fights.

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FLAVOR IN YOUR EAR

Mike Heck interviews Dark Side of the Ring producer Tim Healy about his new project.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Alex Pereira training with Fighting Nerds.

Europe’s finest.

UFC PI walkthrough.

This looks miserable.

This would be fun as hell to go to and now there’s even more of a chance to do so.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Vadim Nemkov (18-2, 1 NC) vs. Tim Johnson (18-10); Bellator, Jan. 25.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Man, it’s good to be back! 2025 is underway and the UFC is almost here again. With a month off, I miss watching real fights so I’m pretty pumped about this weekend.

Welcome back, y’all!

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EXIT POLL

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