UFC CEO Dana White has a clear message for interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.
Aspinall has been pounding the table for Jon Jones to be stripped of his heavyweight gold due to his injury. He has also expressed interest in a clash with Stipe Miocic. Dana won’t be changing plans from the looks of things, however,
Jones vs. Miocic was supposed to headline UFC 295 inside Madison Square Garden in New York City back in November. That plan went awry after “Bones” suffered a torn pectoral tendon during training. As a result, Aspinall was given an interim title opportunity, making good on the chance by knocking out Sergei Pavlovich.
Tom Aspinall Represents England
During an interview with TNT Sports, Dana White discussed how far the sport of MMA has grown in England, and he’s excited to see how Tom Aspinall fares going forward.
“I think we took our first trip to England to start getting that going in 2002, probably,” White said. “If you look at how much the sport has grown in the UK since then, it’s amazing. Guys like [Michael] Bisping and Conor McGregor, and the list goes on and on, are a big part of that. And now to have Aspinall as the heavyweight champion, I’m looking very forward to ’24 and the future with this kid.”
Dana White Will Not Strip Jon Jones Of UFC Gold
White went on to say that Aspinall should be patient because he’ll get his opportunity to become an undisputed champion. He also made it clear that Aspinall will not be fighting Stipe Miocic.
“No, and we’re not stripping Jon Jones either,” White said. “He’s the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. You’re a young guy, you were injured there for a while. You’ll get your shot, just wait, this fight has to happen and then we’ll figure out what’s next for you.
“I don’t know if Jon is going to be out for a long time. Aspinall could fight again, we’ll see how this plays out going into the next year, but Jones and Stipe, the fight, they both deserve it. Jon Jones got injured. There’s nothing he can do about it. We’ll see what happens in 2024. If Aspinall wants to fight before that fight happens, why not? Why not let him defend it.”
White feels booking any other main heavyweight title fight would be disrespectful to Miocic. He thinks Stipe has earned his legacy fight with “Bones.”
“You have to understand this, if you look at what Stipe has accomplished in the sport, what he’s done, where he’s at in his career, he wants the Jon Jones fight and I get it,” White said. “Arguably the greatest heavyweight of all time vs. the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. He wants that fight, it’s a big legacy fight for both guys. He was ready for that fight, he was 10 days out or something.”
White also didn’t rule out the possibility of Aspinall defending his interim gold at some point. Dana said the UFC would look into it if the titleholder wants to stay active.
Here is the full interview with Dana White:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PezZTxlWTnw&ab_channel=TNTSports
