Stipe Miocic has been waiting patiently for his shot at Jon Jones and will do what he needs to do in order to prove he deserves the next shot at the UFC heavyweight champion.
In turn, this has created a bit of a logjam at the top of the division for interim UFC heavyweight champion, Tom Aspinall. The budding UFC superstar is coming off a spectacular knockout win over Sergei Pavlovich last November to claim the interim strap and believes he deserves a chance to unify his belt with Jones next.
Unfortunately for Aspinall, UFC is hellbent on making Jones vs. Miocic no matter what. The matchup was expected to go down late last year at UFC 295 before Jones suffered an injured pectoral and was forced out of the fight. Instead of having Aspinall fight Miocic in early 2024 or pivoting to a Jones vs. Aspinall matchup when “Bones” returns, UFC doubled down and will still make Jones vs. Miocic when all parties are healthy. That means Aspinall will have to wait even longer to potentially unify his UFC heavyweight title and claim the No. 1 spot in the division.
Earlier this week, Aspinall took to social media to voice his frustration over Miocic getting the next shot at Jones considering he hasn’t won inside of the Octagon since 2020. Check it out below:
Last time Stipe fought and won, GTA: San Andreas had just come out on PS2. He will fight next for the undisputed heavyweight title, ahead of me, who’s the interim champ, active and ranked #1 in the world right now. This makes me quite upset
— Tom Aspinall (@AspinallMMA) January 4, 2024
“Last time Stipe fought and won, GTA: San Andreas had just come out on PS2. He will fight next for the undisputed heavyweight title, ahead of me, who’s the interim champ, active and ranked #1 in the world right now. This makes me quite upset.”
On Friday, Miocic broke his silence and returned fire to Aspinall. The former UFC heavyweight champion reassured Aspinall that he has never delayed the Jones fight and even offered to settle the score with the English champion after he takes care of business with “Bones.”
I have never caused a delay in the Jon fight.??Tom, once I get this win, let’s talk to unify the belt.
— Stipe Miocic (@stipemiocic) January 5, 2024
“I have never caused a delay in the Jon fight. Tom, once I get this win, let’s talk to unify the belt.”
As of now, Aspinall will still need to wait for Jones and Miocic to lock horns inside of the Octagon. If the promotion has a change of heart or Jones suffers a setback in his recovery then a Aspinall vs. Miocic booking is a strong possibility.