Tyson Fury: Sparring partner Tom Aspinall is the one man who could beat UFC champion Jon Jones

Tyson Fury believes sparring partner Tom Aspinall could be the one UFC fighter to defeat Jon Jones.

Jones is the current heavyweight champion in MMA and is regarded by many as the pound-for-pound best.

The 36-year-old defeated Cyril Gane for the title earlier in the year, and he has been targeted by British fighter Aspinall.

Aspinall returned from a year out with a knee injury in July, beating Marcin Tybura, and is ranked No. 4 in the heavyweight rankings of the UFC.

Fury is preparing to fight a former UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou, on October 28, exclusively live on TNT Sports Box Office.

He will be fighting for the first time this year but will not be putting his WBC belt on the line, and has recruited Aspinall to his camp ahead of the fight to offer some experience of boxing a mixed martial arts fighter.

Fury told TNT Sports: “That will happen, he’ll be part of the team for sure, if he’s available. He said he would be. Said he had a fight coming up which he had and won, he’s injury free.

“I’m bringing him in as a sparring partner in preparation for a UFC champion.”

Asked what Aspinall would offer him, he said: “Not sure, we’ll find out, I’ll let you know. I sparred Tom years ago, anyway, when he was in our gym.

“He’s a good fighter, probably could have made it as a pro boxer. I was quite sure he would have gone on and won a world championship but he had a derailment with his knee, and that fell out, now he’s had his comeback trail. I think he can do it. He’s big enough, he’s got the power, he’s a black belt in jiu-jitsu.”

Fury was asked if he believed Aspinall would be able to defeat Jones in the cage, and while the heavyweight champion was unsure, he backed Aspinall as the only fighter potentially capable of doing so.

“It’s a tough one,” he answered. “Jon Jones is the Tyson Fury of boxing. People are unable to beat him. Very tough one. Even though Tom Aspinall’s a mate, Jon Jones is probably considered the greatest of all time in MMA, so I don’t know.

“It's probably like, can anyone beat Vladimir Klitschko before Tyson Fury beat him? Probably not, but then Tyson Fury beat him. So if anyone can beat Jon Jones, it’ll be Tom Aspinall. Nobody else.”

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