Michael Bisping says Jon Jones can't 'hold a candle' to Tom Aspinall

UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping has made a bold claim about Tom Aspinall’s future.

Aspinall (13-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC) returned from a serious knee injury to steamroll Marcin Tybura by first-round TKO this past Saturday in the UFC Fight Night 224 headliner at The O2 in London.

Aside from blowing out his knee in an 18-second TKO loss to Curtis Blaydes last year, Aspinall is unbeaten in the octagon, with five of his six UFC wins coming in the first round. Bisping, the U.K.’s first UFC champion, has the utmost confidence that Aspinall will wrap gold around his waist in the near future.

“Tom Aspinall was utterly fantastic,” Bisping told Sky Sports. “That’s one of the best performances I’ve ever seen from a heavyweight. Marcin Tybura, the guy that he beat, is no walk in the park.  He’s won seven of his last eight against world class opposition, and Tom just blew threw him like he was nothing.

“And I do 100 percent believe that he will be the champion. In fact, I know he will be the champion barring any freak injury or something terrible or bad luck happens. He will be the champion of the world.”

In order to reach that feat, Aspinall may have to attempt to do something no one has been able to do – beat UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC). Bisping went so far as to say that not only would Aspinall beat Jones, he’d make it look easy.

“Jon Jones is the heavyweight champion,” Bisping continued. “He’s an incredible fighter. He’s incredible. He’s one of the greatest of all time. I don’t think he can hold a candle to Tom. I think Tom will do the same thing to Jon Jones as what he did to Marcin Tybura. I don’t think there’s anyone that can stop Tom Aspinall. He’s that good.”

Aspinall appears to have gotten Jones’ attention after the heavyweight champ went on a tweet-and-delete rant about the rising Brit.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 224.