Jon Jones believes Tom Aspinall's injury wasn't a big deal and he took the easy way out by vacating his title.
On Monday, Aspinall announced he was vacating the UFC heavyweight title due to 'ongoing complications' with the recovery from eye injuries he sustained against Ciryl Gane in October 2025.
The Briton defended the undisputed heavyweight title for the first time at UFC 321, but his main event with Gane was ruled a no contest following a gruesome double eye poke from the Frenchman.
After a painful recovery period and multiple eye surgeries, Aspinall looked ready to return, reportedly agreeing to rematch Gane, who is now likely to become undisputed champion, in November at UFC 334 in New York.
However, 'an accident' during sparring caused 'further damage' to his right eye, prompting him to vacate the heavyweight title.
Aspinall has received widespread support from most MMA fans for allowing the division to carry on without him while he makes a full recovery.
However, not everyone feels the same way.
Jones, whose retirement in June 2025 prompted then-interim heavyweight champion Aspinall to become undisputed champion after failed negotiations to fight the Englishman, thinks the opposite.
Jones gives first response to Aspinall
Responding to a fan who said Aspinall vacating his title 'confirms his injury wasn't that big of a deal' and the heavyweight 'knows he can't beat Gane so took the easy way out,' Jones said: "My sentiments exactly."
The former two-weight UFC champion then echoed YouTuber MMA Joey, who believes Aspinall 'never deserved the undisputed title' and 'didn't want the Gane rematch.'
"Ouch," Jones responded before telling the content creator he was 'on fire' when comparing his own victory over Gane in 2023 to Aspinall's fight with the Frenchman.
Jones was hit with a low blow by Gane when they met for the heavyweight title at UFC 285 before submitting 'Bon Gamin' just after the two-minute mark.
Aspinall, meanwhile, had both of Gane's fingers sunk deep into his eyes, which led to him being blinded in one eye and unable to continue.
"It was completely black for four weeks and probably the scariest experience of my life," Aspinall said, recalling the experience of eye surgery in July.
And even before Aspinall fought Gane in Abu Dhabi, he had been gunning for an undisputed title fight against Jones, who defeated a 42-year-old Stipe Miocic in his last UFC fight to date.
It's a strange take from Jones, who has no real leg to stand on, given his history with several drug test failures throughout his career.
And it's not like Aspinall's decision to vacate the heavyweight title was prompted by his own doing.
"What makes this particularly difficult is that many of the complications IâÂÂm dealing with are a result of fouls that changed the course of my career," he said this week.
Why Jones has no leg to stand on
In 2015, the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) revealed Jones failed a pre-fight test for benzoylecgonine, the primary metabolite of cocaine, days after defeating Daniel Cormier at UFC 182.
He also failed a pre-fight test for two banned substances before a scheduled rematch with Cormier at UFC 200.
And after knocking out Cormier in July 2017, Jones was suspended, stripped of the UFC light heavyweight title for a third time, and the result of his fight against 'DC' was overturned to a no contest when the anabolic steroid turinabol was found in his system.
That's not the last of it, however, as 'Bones' also tested positive for an 'atypical finding' of turinabol when he returned from the 15-month suspension caused by the same steroid.
This forced his 2019 rematch with Alexander Gustafsson to move from Las Vegas to Los Angeles on a week's notice, as Jones' license to compete in Nevada was denied.
Jones' comments on Aspinall seem to stem purely from hatred for the former UFC heavyweight champion.
It may well be a ploy to set up a potential return fight against the Englishman in the future, but Jones has struggled with 'severe arthritis' over the past few years and is enjoying mentoring heavyweight prospect Gable Steveson.
Furthermore, Jones has already predicted Gane to defeat Aspinall if they had a rematch.
"I think Gane's going to win,"ÃÂ he said.
"When you become the champion and beat a man like Alex Pereira, it has to do something for your confidence.
"And even in Gane's first fight with Tom Aspinall, Tom was looking pretty invincible until Ciryl Gane.
"Most people feel like Gane was winning that fight, and so I feel like Gane's confidence has to be at an all-time high."
talkSPORT.com has collectively voted on the best fighters to form a regularly updated UFC pound-for-pound (P4P) rankings system for the rest of 2026 and beyond.
Our P4P list will be updated regularly based on performances in the Octagon â with wins, records, title wins and defences, calibre of opponents, methods of victory and much more all determining who makes it.
UFC champions Islam Makhachev, Tom Aspinall and Sean Strickland feature - but big stars such as Alex Pereira and Arman Tsarukyan miss out.