WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury believes one of his sparring partners, Tom Aspinall, has the ability to beat the current UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
Aspinall has been brought into Fury's camp ahead of his clash with former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou on October 28 and Fury was full of praise for the 30-year-old.
"I’m bringing him in as a sparring partner in preparation for a UFC champion,” Fury told TNT Sports.
"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.”
When it came to whether Aspinall could be the one to topple Jones in the UFC's heavyweight division, Fury expressed some doubt, but he still backs his fellow countryman to pull off what would arguably be the biggest achievement by a British MMA fighter.
"It’s a tough one,” Fury continued.
“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 Wladimir 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.”