Paddy Pimblett is picking Jon Jones to beat his compatriot Tom Aspinall.
However, the Liverpudlian admits he wouldn’t be surprised if Aspinall nailed Jones to the canvas.
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“I love Aspinall, me lad, he’s my mate and that, but I can never pick against Jon Jones because we’ve never seen him get beat,” Pimblett said at a UFC Fan Q&A event in Liverpool.
“I think now, if anyone’s going to beat him, it is Aspinall.
“Aspinall could just knock him out and come out with his hands and knock him clean out. But I’ve never picked against Jon Jones…
“I’ve been watching Jon Jones since he became champ when I was a kid, know what I mean?
“Since I started watching the UFC in like 2009, 2010, I’ve been watching Jon Jones since then, even before he won the belt.
“I can remember watching the fight live when he got disqualified for the 12-to-6 elbows. That’s how long I’ve been watching Jon Jones.
“It’s just the way he game plans. He finds a way to beat someone, and he works on that exact thing on how to beat them.
“If anyone’s going to beat him, it’s Aspinall.”
MMA fans are clamouring to see Jones put his full heavyweight title on the line against the interim champion.
But despite UFC president Dana White assuring the media at every opportunity that Jones vs Aspinall would happen next, we are still seemingly a long way off an announcement.
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Jones has repeatedly distanced himself from the fight.
After his most recent win over Stipe Miocic last November, he insisted he would rather share the cage with former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, while he was also filmed telling one of his friends that his career is ‘over’.
More recently, he has emitted mixed messages on the topic, telling one fan that he is just taking a ‘break’.
After being asked outright, ‘How does it feel to be retired?’ Jones responded: “I don’t know if I wanna call it retired.
“I feel like I’ll always have an ability to pop out and show ’em.
“I’ve had many breaks throughout my career, my identity outside of fighting is well intact.
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“I’m genuinely enjoying life, I’m growing in different ways.”
Jones is currently out in Thailand filming an Ultimate Fighter-style reality TV show, which had pitted him against Nate Diaz as a coach before the Stockton MMA icon exited the show following a mass brawl.
He hasn’t suggested when he will return to action, although if his break is too long, White has insisted the UFC will strip Jones of his world title and elevate Aspinall.
