"The ducking of Tom Aspinall has ruined the hype" - Fans speak their minds as UFC releases Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic cold open feat. Metallica

The UFC has unraveled the official cold open for Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic. Fight fans soon chimed in, offering mixed reactions, with a number of netizens particularly lambasting 'Bones.'

Jones is booked to defend his UFC heavyweight championship against Miocic in the headlining match of UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 16, 2024. Interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall would serve as the matchup's backup/replacement fighter.

Watch the cold open below:

Veteran actor-cum-voiceover artist Ron Perlman lent his voice to the cold open video released on the UFC's official YouTube channel. The background song was Metallica's popular track 'For Whom The Bell Tolls.'

In the comments section, fans jibed that the royalties paid to the world-renowned heavy metal band were more than the prelim fighters' purses. Others highlighted Jones' tendency to land eye-pokes.

One commenter questioned the point of an interim champion when Jones is fighting someone else rather than unifying the belts. Several fans accused 'Bones' of ducking Aspinall. A netizen wrote:

"GOAT vs DUCK."

One fan alluded to the oft-discussed criticism about Miocic being too old to compete, writing:

"Old Open*"

Another observer wrote:

"The ducking of Tom Aspinall has ruined the hype for this fight for me personally."

Check out the screenshots of a few comments below:

Screenshots of comments

Some accused Jon Jones of previously ducking Francis Ngannou and now evading Tom Aspinall while others implied that Miocic could KO Jones. Meanwhile, a few fans lauded the UFC's production team for crafting an incredible promo package with the cold open video. One fan wrote:

"That promo is insane."

Certain fans expressed their excitement for the promo, which featured Metallica, and highlighted that UFC 309 is likely to be a tremendous event. Alternatively, some fans harked back to Jones' having tested positive for PEDs (Performance Enhancing Drugs) on multiple occasions:

"4 times positive drug test, this is your goat?"

Check out a few more comments below:

Screenshots of comments

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Jon Jones ducking Tom Aspinall - Revisiting the origin of the allegations against UFC icon 'Bones'

Jones is fresh off his heavyweight divisional debut. The consensus MMA G.O.A.T. defeated Ciryl Gane via first-round submission to capture the vacant UFC heavyweight title in March 2023.

Miocic's last matchup came in March 2021. The heavyweight MMA legend lost the UFC heavyweight belt via second-round KO in a rematch against Francis Ngannou.

Jones was booked to defend his heavyweight belt against Miocic at UFC 295 in Nov. 2023 but withdrew due to a pectoral injury.

Instead, Tom Aspinall battled Sergei Pavlovich at the event, for the interim UFC heavyweight title, and won via first-round KO. Aspinall defended the interim belt with a first-round KO in his rematch against Curtis Blaydes in July 2024.

Since Aspinall's title win in Nov. 2023, many MMA fans demanded that Jones face Aspinall and unify the belts. Critics suggest that the 42-year-old Miocic is supposedly past his athletic prime, hasn't competed for years, and that Aspinall is currently the most intriguing matchup for 'Bones.'

Regardless, the 37-year-old Jones recently indicated that instead of risking his legacy against a rising star like the 31-year-old Aspinall, he'd like to fight legends, perhaps a potential clash against reigning light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.

UFC CEO and president Dana White believes the Jones-Miocic winner is unlikely to retire, despite being rumored to do so and would fight Aspinall.