Daniel Cormier doubts Jones or Miocic will fight UFC 309 substitute Aspinall

Daniel Cormier doesn't see much point in making Tom Aspinall the official replacement for UFC 309.

It's not that he thinks an injury or a last-minute withdrawal from Jon Jones or Spite Miocic is impossible. Cormier just believes that if something were to happen to either of them, neither Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) nor Miocic (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) would be willing to face the UFC's interim heavyweight champion on short notice.

“Aspinall is officially the backup fighter, but what happens if someone gets hurt?” Cormier asked on his YouTube channel. “Which of these guys is going to say, 'OK, I'm fighting Tom Aspinall'? Who is actually going to stay in the fight?

“Pavlovich was the replacement fighter in New York City when Jones and Stipe were first scheduled to face each other. Jones got injured, Stipe pulled out and Aspinall fought Pavlovich. Since he's the replacement fighter, there's no guarantee that anyone will fight him. I would almost guess that if someone gets injured, Tom Aspinall will stay on the card and he won't fight either of them. … Neither of them is fighting Tom Aspinall unless they absolutely have to.”

Cormier hopes he's wrong. He wants to see Jones fight Aspinall at some point. After all, Jones is the UFC heavyweight champion and Aspinall is the interim champion. He believes this is the only fight Jones needs for his legacy and to be the No. 1 heavyweight today.

“To hear what Jones is saying, or the rumor that Jones said, 'That's it for me,' is rubbish because I think there's still some work to be done with Aspinall in particular,” Cormier said. “I don't think anyone else justifies him staying. I really don't. We saw what he did with Ciryl Gane.”

For more information on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.