For as great as Jon Jones looked on Saturday in his return to the Octagon after 18 months and major surgery, the race atop the pound-for-pound rankings in the UFC remains a heated one.
Jones, 37, put forth a complete effort in breaking former champion Stipe Miocic down en route to a third-round TKO to extend his UFC record for wins in title fights to 16. The main event of UFC 309 at New York’s Madison Square Garden also created a ton of buzz for the promotion regarding a future heavyweight title unification between Jones and interim titleholder Tom Aspinall that CEO Dana White has teased could be the biggest fight in promotional history.
Whether or not the Aspinall fight even happens comes down to Jones’ willingness and whether UFC can meet his asking price considering Jones has done everything in his power over the past week to dismiss Aspinall’s credibility and character.
But even though …