Joe Rogan disagrees with Jon Jones underselling 'star' Tom Aspinall before retiring

USA Today

a day ago

Joe Rogan thinks Tom Aspinall was a worthy enough opponent for Jon Jones to stick around and fight.
Prior to officially retiring and relinquishing his UFC heavyweight title, Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) insisted that beating Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) would not have added much to his legacy, referring to him as "just another guy."
Rogan disagrees.
"It's also money fights," Rogan said on his "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast with guest Cory Sandhagen. "I think he's wrong because I think Aspinall is a star. I really do, and I think he's saying, 'Who is he? He's no one.' Aspinall is a star. When people ask questions to me all the time, like casuals on the streets, it's, 'Is Jon Jones going to fight Tom Aspinall?' That's like the constant question."
The fight Rogan would really love to see for Jones next is Francis Ngannou, but Dana White recently reiterated that he isn't interested in having his former UFC heavyweight champion back.
"To me, the real fight would have been Jon Jones vs. Francis," Rogan said. "That's the real fight. Clearly I'm not responsible for making decisions because I would have made a lot of different decisions, and I would have been like, 'Francis, let's talk, work this out.' That guy's a star.
"Francis is the f*cking scariest heavyweight of all time. That's a star. That guy as a heavyweight champion is so f*cking marketable, puts people in the orbit. He flatlined Stipe (Miocic), he flatlined Alistair (Overeem). He flatlines people. He's f*cking terrifying. That's the heavyweight champion. ... That's the big fight."