Ex-NFL star who trained at Francis Ngannou's gym gives honest opinion about Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall: "It's gonna be a 'pass the torch' fight"

Jon Jones, Tom Aspinall, and Francis Ngannou all have legitimate claims to being today's best heavyweight in MMA with an iconic former NFL player and current MMA promoter weighing in on the topic.

Appearing on Bowks Talking Bouts, Shawne Merriman touched on several subjects ahead of Lights Out XF 23 with the figurehead for Lights Out Xtreme Fighting indicating his excitement for the March 22 event. Merriman has also trained in MMA over the years and has gotten in work at Xtreme Couture with individuals like the lineal MMA heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.

When asked who the best heavyweight in MMA today is between Ngannou, Jones, and Aspinall, Merriman said:

"Look [laughs], I'm never going to say not Jon Jones. I just, I don't see it. But we can always talk next up and I think that him and Tom, it's gonna be a 'pass the torch' fight. It's gonna be a pass the torch because Jon is; He's the pinnacle. I don't think anybody can deny that he's going to be on top until someone proves that he's not on top."

Check Merriman's thoughts on the present-day best MMA heavyweight below (14:46):

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Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall fantasy fights played out by former UFC heavyweight champion

Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall are right at the top of their given weight category with a former multi-UFC heavyweight champion offering up his thoughts on potential fights with both of these combatants. During a recent conversation with former UFC middleweight Tim Kennedy, Cain Velasquez covered several subjects including the current state of the division he once loomed over.

Kennedy at one point described Velasquez as the greatest heavyweight to enter the octagon. When Kennedy pointedly asked the MMA legend how he would fair against the 37-year-old champion as well as the interim champion Aspinall, Velasquez was succinct and classy in his response, stating (via Bloody Elbow):

"I think they'd be close fights or exciting fights."

When Kennedy also mentioned that a clash between a prime 'Bones' and a prime Velasquez would have been the best fight in the division's history, Velasquez was even briefer in his response when he quipped 'I think so too'.

As far as the actual potential title unification clash between the Rochester native and the UK standout, Velasquez indicated that he leans more towards Jon Jones besting Tom Aspinall in a separate interview on The Ariel Helwani Show.

Check out Cain Velasquez's comments below: