Francis
Ngannou’s coach, Eric Nicksick, claims Tom
Aspinall currently has more “upside” than UFC heavyweight champ
Jon
Jones.
Advertisement
A highly-anticipated clash between Ngannou and Jones never came to
fruition under the UFC banner, with “The Predator” exiting the
promotion due to failed contract negotiations earlier this year.
Jones went to win the vacant strap with a submission win over
Ciryl
Gane at UFC 285 in March. He was slated to defend the strap
against Stipe
Miocic at UFC 295 on Nov. 11.
However, Jones was forced out of the matchup due to injury and
Aspinall claimed the interim title with a first-round knockout of
Sergei
Pavlovich in short-notice co-main event at UFC 295. Despite his
title win, Aspinall is currently in a complicated position with
Jones expected to return sometime next year and face Miocic. The
winner of Jones-Miocic would presumably face Aspinall at a later
date.
Nicksick, meanwhile, revealed that he’s had his eyes on Aspinall
dating back to Ngannou’s reign as heavyweight champion.
“I got all the receipts, boys, I’ve been telling everybody for a
long time that Tom
Aspinall was the guy,” Nicksick said on the
Anik & Florian podcast. “I think people forgot about him due to
that knee injury that he suffered in the London card against
Curtis
Blaydes. I felt like that was gonna be his coming out party.
Unfortunately, it was an injury instead and he was out for a period
of time. But, as a coach in the division, at the time having
Francis
Ngannou, you start to look at the landscape of possible
competition as it comes up through the rankings, and I think
Tom
Aspinall to me was 1A.”
While Nicksick admits that Jones’ legacy is undeniable, he is
confident that Aspinall has big things ahead of him. However,
Nicksick still believes Jones would be a more difficult matchup for
Ngannou at this current point in time.
“I mean, you have to go with the guy who’s considered the G.O.A.T.
I would have to say Jon Jones,
just because of pedigree, history, the man that Jon Jones is,
and the champion that he is,” Nicksick said. “But I think upside?
Upside definitely goes to Tom
Aspinall. Tom
Aspinall reminds me of a Francis
Ngannou in a lot of ways, I still think his athleticism is just
scratching the surface. I think there’s a lot more that you’re
gonna see from Aspinall as far as his growth and maturation goes.”