Daniel Cormier thinks the UFC’s heavyweight division will be held up by rebooking Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic.
Heavyweight champion Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) was scheduled to make his first title defense against Miocic in the UFC 295 headliner. However, a torn pectoral muscle forced Jones out and the bout was scrapped. Replacing them was an interim title fight between Tom Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) and Sergei Pavlovich, in which Aspinall won the belt by first-round knockout.
Aspinall’s win won’t lead him to a title-unification bout. Instead, the UFC has plans to rebook Jones vs. Miocic in 2024, leaving interim champ Aspinall in a peculiar position. Cormier says Aspinall vs. Pavlovich should have been for the undisputed title and he would like to see Aspinall upgraded.
“If Jones and Stipe are only going to fight each other, you cannot have Tom Aspinall defend the interim championship,” Cormier said on The MMA Hour. “Jones and Stipe don’t need the title to be on the line. They can just fight, and that’s enough. Call it for ‘The Greatest of All Time.’ It doesn’t matter. Create a belt.
“Tom Aspinall is the guy who’s going to lead the heavyweight division for years to come. So yes, I believe that he should be the undisputed champ. Jones is the undisputed champion – he earned it in the octagon by beating Ciryl Gane. But if he’s only going to fight Stipe, and that’s not for another seven months? You put Tom Aspinall as the champ, and I don’t think anybody would bat an eyelid.”
Aspinall shares the same sentiment. The Brit called for Jones to be stripped of his title while he recovers, and that he should be the undisputed champion and defend against Stipe Miocic while he waits for Jones.
