Tom Aspinall is no longer just aiming for a fight against Jon Jones; he’s all about the title now. According to the interim heavyweight champion, UFC must stop protecting Jones in his position and explained why a fight against Stipe Miocic no longer makes doesn’t sense.
In his recent interview with Michael Bisping, the British fighter bluntly lambasted the UFC over continuously pushing Jones to fight despite having to recover from an injury. As Aspinall explained, this is not the case for many previous champs, who were forced to leave their belts when they faced the same issue.
“I think Jon Jones should be stripped from the title to be honest, because everyone else does when they get injured like that,” said Aspinall.
In line with that, Aspinall believes he should be crowned as the new king of the division, suggesting that Miocic and Jones are being treated as exceptions. The Briton didn’t mince words in his statement and called out the action.
“I don’t see why he’s still got it. I don’t understand that. I think I should be the real champion right now,” stated Aspinall. “It’s hard to say without sounding rude, but who’s asked about Jon Jones and Stipe anymore? Why do we get this legacy fight, and they get to live by their own rules? What’s a legacy fight, a retirement fight for a title? I want to fight Stipe and then I want to fight Jon Jones. … I think all this other stuff is rubbish. Stop protecting him now. Stop protecting your boy Jon Jones at the top.”
The interim champion insisted on fighting Miocic and said he would love to face Jones if he wins. However, according to past reports, Miocic, whose last bout was in March 2021, wasn’t even offered a fight for the interim. Currently, the rebooking of the battle between Jones and Miocic is still pretty much alive, which further causes frustration to Aspinall.
“That fight is completely dead in the water now,” Aspinall said. “You have a new champion at the weight, which is me. You got Stipe, who by the time Jon Jones comes back will have fought once in four years, and he’s 42 years old, and he’s got one fight where he got knocked out, and now he’s going to fight Jones, who’s coming off a big injury and again had one fight in three years. Again, who’s going to be bothered by that fight in a year’s time?”
