The UFC‘s interim heavyweight champion is not a happy camper. Interim champion Tom Aspinall (14-3) seems to be coming to the realization that he will not be fighting for the undisputed title next despite the fact that he’s the interim heavyweight champion.
Last November at UFC 295, Jon Jones (27-1, 1 NC) was supposed to defend his heavyweight title against the greatest heavyweight in the history of the promotion, Stipe Miocic (20-4). Jones had won the heavyweight title back in March while Miocic hadn’t fought since March 2021 when he lost the title to Francis Ngannou.
The fight was being billed as the GOAT versus the heavyweight GOAT. A legacy fight that was can’t-miss and yet we didn’t get to see it. Shortly before the bout, Jones tore his pec and the fight was called off. Instead of keeping Miocic on the card, they pulled him to keep the Jones fight together.
Aspinall subbed in on short notice to help save the card and fight Sergei Pavlovich for the interim title. Aspinall scored a first round knockout to claim the gold. Typically when an interim champion wins the title, their next fight is against the undisputed champion to unify the title. However, that’s not the UFC’s plan and Aspinall took to X today to voice that frustration in a series of posts.
Should the UFC move on?
Look, I completely get where Aspinall is coming from. Earlier today, we posted an article about the dream title fights we’d like to see in 2024 and one of those fights was Aspinall against Jon Jones. The Miocic fight lost a lot of steam when it wasn’t able to happen the first time around.
That’s not Jon Jones’ or Stipe Miocic’s fault it just is what it is. If the UFC wanted to go with the hot fight, they’d book Jones against the interim champion, Aspinall. That’s what Aspinall desperately wants. However, he’s not going to get that fight.
Jones and Miocic have earned their spot and earned the right to take this fight. That’s what Dana White has repededly said when it comes to remaking the fight. White has never wavered and he’s not going to. Jon Jones is going to fight Stipe Miocic next for the UFC heavyweight title. It’s not a typical scenario and it’s not a typical fight. It’s not fair to Tom Aspinall, but there’s many times where this game isn’t fair even to the best guys in the world.