Tom Aspinall is UFC interim heavyweight champion and the backup fighter for the upcoming UFC 309 title clash between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic on Nov. 16, but PFL star Renan Ferreira sees him as the UFC’s most dangerous heavyweight today.
“Problema” enters the PFL cage Saturday in Saudi Arabia for the biggest fight of his career, welcoming ex-UFC champion Francis Ngannou back from the boxing world, and he explained why he doesn’t consider Jones the No. 1 heavyweight in the octagon.
“I think Aspinall [is the UFC’s toughest heavyweight] because of the moment he’s going through right now,” Ferreira said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “He’s young and is on a rise. But Jon Jones is the greatest of all time, in my opinion. He’s super experienced and proven himself, showed what he can do for the sport. You can’t deny him.”
PFL co-founder Donn Davis recently suggested a “winner takes all” tournament between PFL stars Larissa Pacheco and Cris Cyborg and UFC’s Kayla Harrison and Julianna Peña, and Ferreira loves the idea of doing something similar with the PFL and UFC’s heavyweight divisions.
“It would be a clash of giants, right?” Ferreira laughed. “It would be very interesting, and fans would be the winners. Great athletes with different styles fighting each other and defending their promotions as well. This tournament would get a ton of attention.”
It’s highly unlikely that the UFC would ever agree to such offer, and Ferreira still wonders how Jones will do against heavier competition. The former 205-pound champion only fought once since moving up a division, tapping Ciryl Gane with ease. Aspinall has won eight of nine in the UFC with eight stoppages, including finishes over Curtis Blaydes and Sergei Pavlovich.
“[Jones] was a bit heavier and had a hard time throwing strikes,” Ferreira said of Jones’ performance against Gane. “He’s moving up in weight and hasn’t fought real heavyweights yet, with heavy hands, so I think he could have some trouble there.”
Ferreira could be seen as the lineal heavyweight champion of the world with a win this weekend considering that Ngannou left the UFC without losing the belt, but isn’t sure that fans would agree with that.
“The UFC still is a huge platform,” Ferreira said. “The champions there are undisputed, but I’m building my legacy and my history by fighting the best. I don’t think too much about fame and what could happen and what people think. I just focus on what I’m doing with hunger and heart, and the rest will come from that. … We’ve had some many champion [from Brazil], people who wrote their names in the history books so MMA would be as respected as it is today, so that is my mission now. I’m focused on this.”
Battle of the Giants: Ngannou vs. Ferreira takes place Saturday at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Read the full article here
