Tom Aspinall questions the legitimacy of Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic as a UFC heavyweight title fight.
Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) defends his belt against Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 309 (pay-per-view, ESPNews/Hulu/FX, ESPN+) headliner at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Interim heavyweight champion Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) awaits the winner for a title unification bout, except Jones has made it clear he’s not interested in facing Aspinall if he continues beyond UFC 309, while Miocic is widely expected to retire.
“For me, this is far from an undisputed title fight. This is the most disputed title you can possibly get,” Aspinall said on his YouTube channel. “Because there’s two champions, and one of the champions, Jon Jones, is avoiding the other champion: me.
“And he’s chose to fight 42-year-old Stipe, who’s had a fantastic career – both guys have had a fantastic career, great legacy. But let’s be honest: These are two old farts fighting each other for a title and occupying it, which is a bit weird. Nobody that I can see gives a sh*t about this fight.”
Jones’ stance on Aspinall hasn’t changed, and he appears to no longer care what people think of him not wanting the fight. Jones addressed Aspinall in multiple interviews, dismissing his resume by saying that, unlike him, he hasn’t beaten any champions.
Aspinall responded to Jones’ comments.
“This ducking and diving is something that I don’t really have respect for,” Aspinall said. “And, of course, it’s been pretty interesting all the stuff that Jon Jones has been saying to the media this week, and I’m sure there’s more to come.
“So, Jon said I need to fight more champions, but this is the problem I’ve got: Jon is the champion, and he won’t fight me. He says he won’t fight me because it’s too much of a gamble. Jon, if you’re not into gambling your legacy, that to me sounds like you’re scared of losing against me.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.
