UFC CEO, Dana White has once more claimed Tom Aspinall must lay in wait despite his constant calls for a title unification fight next – insisting that fellow champion, Jon Jones will first off face off against former gold holder, Stipe Miocic before the end of the year.
Aspinall, the current interim light heavyweight champion, most recently co-headlined UFC 304 at the end of last month in Manchester, landing his first defense of the interim crown in a one-sided first round knockout win over Curtis Blaydes. The victory saw Atherton native, Aspinall avenge his sole Octagon defeat in the promotion.
As for Jones, the fellow heavyweight champion has been sidelined since he returned to make a long-mooted heavyweight bow back in March of last year, managing to scoop the vacant divisional crown.
Laying waste to former interim heavyweight champion, Ciryl Gane in his return to action, Rochester native, Jon Jones submitted the French contender with ease in the opening round to win vacant spoils in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Dana White backs Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic before Tom Aspinall hunt
And preparing for a return at UFC 309 in November in the main card of the Madison Square Garden event, Jones is gearing up for a grudge fight with consensus heavyweight great, Miocic – with White backing the pairing in favor of a title unification bout featuring Aspinall.
“When you say Jon Jones versus Tom Aspinall, does that mean we’re saying Stipe (Miocic) doesn’t deserve the fight?” Dana White toild Yahoo! Sports. “I mean, this fight was supposed to happen, Jon’s got injured and Stipe has paid his dues and has been here forever.”
“My job is to make the biggest fights I can possible make,” White explained. “I know everybody wants to see Aspinall but those two are gonna fight and whoever wins, hopefully, Aspinall is next and they’re gonna give Aspinall the opportunities they got when they were in their young careers to get to where they are today.”