Jon Jones heaped praise on Gable Steveson after the latter’s impressive 15-second win at Dirty Boxing 4 while also taking a shot at a UFC rival.The former UFC champion was speaking to Better Boxing Bureau after Dirty Boxing 4 and was asked why he invests so much time into Steveson.Jones explained how the former Olympian and WWE star had all the qualities to make him a top star while suggesting that Steveson was the perfect athlete:“He’s everything that I have ever wanted in an athlete. He’s 25 years old. He comes from a wrestling background. He’s an Olympic gold medalist. He has the perfect work ethic, and he’s drug free.”The interviewer then brought up an eye-patch, a reference to current UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall. The Brit’s championship fight against Ciryl Gane ended in a no-contest as he was unable to continue after an eye-poke.Jones chuckled at the quip before explaining how good Steveson is.“He’s not wearing an eye-patch. He’s just so committed, he’s the perfect athlete. Everything we talk about, he remembers, every combination. He has multiple coaches working with him right now, and he’s just a sponge. He reminds me a lot of myself when I was 25 years old, just, a lot more disciplined.”The former UFC double champion ended the segment by adding how proud he was to be in Steveson’s circle and was glad to be his friend and mentor.Check out Jon Jones’ comments here: View this post on Instagram Instagram PostJon Jones takes shots at Tom Aspinall after UFC 321While there is a lot of hype around Gable Steveson’s future with the former WWE star wanting a UFC contract, his mentor has Tom Aspinall in his sights, at least on social media.Jon Jones has avoided fighting Aspinall for a long time. He retired from MMA and his UFC heavyweight title was conferred to then interim champion Aspinall.'Bones' has taken shots at Aspinall on social media and did the same right after UFC 321. The American shared an Instagram story where his performance against Ciryl Gane was compared to Aspinall’s.Jones beat Gane at UFC 285 in just over two minutes while Aspinall’s fight went on for more than four minutes before the no-contest.While Jones doesn’t seem interested in fighting Aspinall, he is open to facing UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.The pair have posted on social media about fighting at heavyweight with a possibility to face off at the UFC White House event in 2026.