Current interim heavyweight world champion Tom Aspinall accepted a fight with Stipe Miocic for UFC 300. Ever since his…
Current interim heavyweight world champion Tom Aspinall accepted a fight with Stipe Miocic for UFC 300.
Ever since his title-winning performance against Sergei Pavlovich in November, Aspinall has been pushing hard for a unification clash with undisputed champ Jon Jones. Typically, the interim titleholder would go on to fight the linear champion, no ifs, and, or buts, but Aspinall has found himself in an unfavorable situation that could keep him sitting on the sidelines for the next year.
Instead, Jones, who is currently recovering from a pectoral tear, will return to fight the man he was originally scheduled to defend his title against at UFC 295, Stipe Miocic. The winner of that fight would then unify his belt with Aspinall’s, in theory. Even that is the subject of much debate as both ‘Bones’ and Miocic are slated to retire once their heavyweight superfight is in the books.
Recently, Tom Aspinall dropped a bombshell on social media, revealing that the UFC had contacted him about a potential fight with Stipe Miocic at the promotion’s next landmark event on April 13. Aspinall says he accepted the fight only for Miocic to turn it down, opting to wait for Jones.
“While we are talking about @stipemiocic , my manager was contacted by the UFC asking if I’d like to fight him on apr 13th. I, of course, accepted,” Aspinall wrote on X.
While we are talking about @stipemiocic , my manager was contacted by the UFC asking if I’d like to fight him on apr 13th. I, of course, accepted
With Jones still recovering from injury, there’s no anticipated date for Jones vs. Miocic, though summer 2024 is looking likely. Acquiescing to the fact that he won’t be fighting either UFC legend anytime soon (or ever), Aspinall has teased a potential UFC 300 clash with Alex Pereira, though it’s starting to look like the UK fan favorite will be sitting out of the promotion’s mega-sized centennial card.
“On that note. I will stop crying, accept it ain’t gonna happen and enjoy the fight that me and all the other fans want to see. Legend vs legend for the heavyweight title. Maximum respect guys. Yay,” Aspinall concluded.
On that note. I will stop crying, accept it ain’t gonna happen and enjoy the fight that me and all the other fans want to see. Legend vs legend for the heavyweight title. Maximum respect guys. Yay
Interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall reveals hate messages he has received since he began campaigning for a Jon…
Interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall reveals hate messages he has received since he began campaigning for a Jon Jones fight.
Since the dispatching of Sergei Pavlovich in little over a minute, Aspinall cemented himself as the clear number one contender to Jon Jones. However, the UFC are keen to rebook Jones Vs. Stipe Miocic after jones had to withdraw from the fight due to injury.
Aspinall has taken to social media in an attempt to make his case to be the one to face Jones next rather than Miocic, who despite his previous career success has not won a fight since September 2020. Tom Aspinall even said he would face Miocic next but will likely have to wait if he wants his next fight to be for UFC gold.
Tom Aspinall reveals he has received death threats
Sports fans can be a passionate bunch, however, there is always that small portion to take it too far. Social media has made it easier for toxic fanbases to get access to athletes, often sending vile and hateful messages.
“People on the internet are wild,” Aspinall said. “You have to kind of see it for what it is. It’s not real life, a lot of it comes from jealousy. People don’t like to see other people do well, unfortunately that’s the way of the world. With a lot of love comes a lot of hate as well. That’s the way the cookie crumbles unfortunately.”
“I’m human so it affects me sometimes,” the 30-year-old continued. “But I try to just turn a blind eye to it and just crack on. The internet is a strange place. I clicked on my message requests by accident the other day and people are sending me death threats for wanting to fight Jon Jones, who’s the best in the world and it’s madness. You just think what the f*** is going on in your life that you want to say that you want to kill somebody else because they want to fight, it’s madness.” (H/T OLBG)
Should Tom Aspinall be next in line for Jon Jones?
With him failing to secure a title unification clash against Jon Jones anytime soon, interim heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall…
With him failing to secure a title unification clash against Jon Jones anytime soon, interim heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall is in the market for another prospective opponent.
UFC 300 is quickly filling up with a plethora of fantastic matchups with many more still to come. In recent weeks, Alex Pereira has teased an impending announcement leading fans to believe that he will be part of the promotion’s massive milestone event. While in all likelihood, ‘Poatan’ will defend his light heavyweight title against one of the division’s deserving contenders, rumors are flying that Pereira could go for a third UFC title on April 13.
In a quick clip shared by Bloody Elbow on X, Aspinall welcomed a title fight with Pereira, noting that he’s not usually one for bullying smaller fighters, but if ‘Poatan’ wants it, he can get it.
“If he wants to, I will, but I’m going on record saying, I’m not a bully,” Aspinall said. “I don’t bully smaller guys, but if the smaller guy wants to scrap, I’m in.”
After snatching the middleweight title from Israel Adesanya in late 2022, Pereira moved onto the 205-pound division and scored his second bit of UFC gold, knocking out former champion Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295 in November.
Russian powerhouse Magomed Ankalaev made a strong case for himself as Pereira’s first challenger after delivering a nose-shattering shot against Johnny Walker at last weekend’s event inside The APEX. Ankalaev moved to 10-1 under the UFC banner and 19-1-1 overall and is currently holding things down as the No. 3 ranked light heavyweight in the world.
Chael Sonnen recently spoke wisdom about the Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall situation and devised a cunning game plan…
Chael Sonnen recently spoke wisdom about the Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall situation and devised a cunning game plan to end the controversial saga.
Everybody knows who Jon Jones is. For seemingly eons, he’s been the pinnacle of the world’s toughest sport. He is the crème de la crème of MMA, and that has not came without controversy.
Dana White once said the most brilliant thing about Jon Jones that anybody has probably ever said: that the man could’ve been the Lebron James of MMA. It’s true. From a hit and run on a pregnant woman, to failing PED tests, and more. Jon Jones has been a controversial figure in the game for a very long time. Not Lebron James-like at all (who has never been in any scandals and has always been a great role model).
Now, at the end of his career, there’s more controversy for Jones. Tom Aspinall defeated the terrifying knockout artist Sergei Pavlovich to capture an interim heavyweight title, and Aspinall beat him at his own game. In Aspinall’s own words, he has had his Michael Bisping moment. He knocked out the fearsome Russian and captured the throne.
Yet, he didn’t really capture the throne. Since Jon Jones is the undisputed heavyweight champion, Aspinall captured more of an imitation throne. Like a less meaningful replica almost. Now, Aspinall’s legacy will be forever marred. The electric British man wants action with Jon Jones, but Jones doesn’t want to play. Cue the controversy.
Chael Sonnen Explains how Jon Jones can settle the Tom Aspinall Controversy
Speaking on his podcast, You’re Welcome, Chael Sonnen spoke out about his former rival and the current controversy surrounding him.
“Jon does not enjoy that side of [MMA], he doesn’t understand it,” Sonnen said (H/T MMA Fighting) “He thinks the most money, the most accolades should go to whoever can beat up the most people. So Jon could end it. He could end something that he doesn’t want to keep continuing by saying one word, which is yes. But you want to know something?”
“Jon Jones could also end this by saying one word, which is no. ‘No, I’m planning to do one more. My plans have not changed for you. I plan to fight Stipe Miocic, who’s great. Stipe might be the one to bring me down. We’ll find out that night, but he might not. That’d be another notch and it will be enough. My plans don’t involve you.’ He could do that.”
“Daniel Cormier dismissed effectively Curtis Blaydes. I was there the night that he did it, he did it on the ESPN desk. He’d just got done fighting, Curtis had called him out and Daniel was a gentleman. He said, ‘Hey, that guy’s good. He’s got reach, his striking’s improved, a national champion wrestler, he’s younger, and he’s got a great career in front of him. But he and I will never share the octagon.’ And Daniel didn’t say it’s because it’s not a competitive fight. He didn’t say he was better than him. He didn’t even say he could beat him. He said, ‘I’m a champion, I get [pay-per-view] points. I fight people that have big names. You don’t.’”
“He leveled with him straight up,” Sonnen continued. “Never got into who’s better, whose legacy, who should remembered more. Daniel told the actual truth, which is, ‘I can’t make any money fighting you. You’re a dangerous fight that doesn’t bring money. Winning fights doesn’t get you to me, just so you know. I know they’ve told you that, but it’s not true. I know the magazines tell you that getting a high ranking brings you to me — I’m letting you know now, it doesn’t. Win over the crowd that’s willing to stop what they’re doing, part with their money and time to watch you, and that’s how you get to me. And you didn’t do that.’”
Sonnen Continues Spitting flame
“It was so effective, it was never discussed again,” Chael Sonnen continued. Curtis Blaydes versus Daniel Cormier, when Daniel was champion, was never discussed again. So Jon Jones could come out and say, ‘You’re young and you’re good and I’m not looking for that. No.’ Or he could say, ‘You suck. No,’ but it would still be definitive and he could end this. Or he could say, ‘Yes. Let’s stick with the plan. I have Stipe first and then I will come see you.’”
Sonnen firmly believes that Jon Jones is making this situation worse for himself by not just speaking out and being firm about his choice. Aspinall has been relentless in his pursuit of either Stipe Miocic or Jones and has been largely succeeding in turning fans against Jones (not that he needed much help for that).
“It’s kind of like, why does he not get himself a driver? Why would he not part [with] some money? If you’re giving a stripper $10,000 that you’re never going to see again, why would you not hire a writer for $10,000? He’ll work, he’ll be there the whole year. That’s about what it would cost for somebody to manage your Twitter page — about $10,000 for the whole year for a real top guy, a WWE guy, a guy who has worked in Hollywood. A real top professional writer, that’s about what it would cost. And you know Jon doesn’t have a driver, that’s how he’s got DUIs, and you know he doesn’t have a writer, that’s why he’s got typos.”
“What is it that we’re doing? What is it we’re trying to do?” Sonnen continued. “Jon could end this by saying yes or no. Jon has the power either way. His reasons don’t matter, at all.
“There’s a way to get some clarity, there’s a way to muddy these waters, and there’s a way to do what Daniel did and say, ‘You’re just not popular.’ Whatever the reason is, you’ve got to give a guy an answer, yes or no, or we just keep doing this. Generally, I would be OK [if this feud continued]. Like if this was Conor [McGregor] or somebody entertaining or fun, I would hope that it would continue. [But] you guys aren’t fun. This is boring.”
Do you think Chael Sonnen was on-point with his critique of how Jon Jones has been handling this situation?
Michael Bisping believes Jon Jones will tarnish his legacy by ducking a fight with Tom Aspinall. Stepping into the…
Michael Bisping believes Jon Jones will tarnish his legacy by ducking a fight with Tom Aspinall.
Stepping into the UFC 296 co-main event after ‘Bones’ went down due to a pectoral injury, Aspinall claimed the interim heavyweight championship via a spectacular 69-second knockout of Sergei Pavlovich. Typically, the interim titleholder immediately moves on to unify his gold with that of the undisputed champion. In this case, that would be Jon Jones. However, Jones and the UFC have other plans.
Instead of a title unification clash with Aspinall, Jones will move forward with his previously scheduled showdown against Stipe Miocic, leaving Aspinall to sit by the wayside and wait for things to play out.
My stipe fight was booked well before yours came along, you weren’t even the back up fighter.. Trust me you’re the one who is coming around here with the inflated ego and entitlement. That intern championship means absolutely nothing if you seriously haven’t noticed yet. All your…
Understandably, Aspinall is infuriated and has been targeting Jones in interviews and on social media. That sparked a heated debate between the two on X with many, including Michael Bisping, siding with Aspinall.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, the ex-middleweight champ suggested that Jon Jones’ legacy will be tarnished if he retires before unifying his title with Aspinall’s.
“[Jon Jones] doesn’t have anything to prove, other than he can beat Tom Aspinall,” Bisping said. “If he does retire right now, that is always going to be the narrative. There’s people out there – and I know this annoys Jones, so I’m sorry to bring it up – people say that he avoided Francis Ngannou. I’m not saying that, but that’s a narrative that exists. I don’t think that’s true, but people do say that.
“If he doesn’t fight Tom Aspinall if he beats Stipe, that will forever be the narrative. That will forever be the narrative – that he’s ducking Tom Aspinall, that he’s afraid of Tom Aspinall, that he looks at Tom Aspinall – this gigantic man, a true heavyweight that moves like a middleweight, that has ridiculous finishing ability, a heavyweight Georges St-Pierre, a mixed martial arts version of Muhammad Ali, (and is scared).”
Does Dodging a Fight with Tom Aspinall Damage Jon Jones’ GOAT Status?
Jon Jones sent fight fans into a meltdown, suggesting that he would walk away from mixed martial arts altogether following his fight with Stipe Miocic. Many have called for ‘Bones’ to relinquish the heavyweight title in light of his comments.
What I refuse to do is be like a lot of these other fighters who stuck around too long. That just won’t happen. Your boy Bones Jones over here, despite what a lot of people may like to think. Ive set myself up pretty well in life. I want Stipe for my résumé, outside of that, I…
Doing so would forfeit pay-per-view points Jones is entitled to as a defending world champion, so we can’t see that happening in any way, shape, or form.
It’s clear that Jon Jones sees the Miocic fight as an important one for his overall legacy, but Bisping believes that if ‘Bones’ bows out before fighting one of the most well-rounded heavyweights of all time, Tom Aspinall, it will permanently hang over his legacy like a dark cloud.
“How on earth can Jon Jones retire when there’s another active, defending heavyweight champion?” asked Bisping. “You just can’t do that. That is madness, and it will affect his legacy and tarnish his accomplishments forever.”
Do you think Jon Jones needs to fight Tom Aspinall to solidify his status as MMA’s greatest of all time?
UFC star, Jon Jones’ legacy will most definitely be called into question according to Hall of Fame inductee, Michael…
UFC star, Jon Jones’ legacy will most definitely be called into question according to Hall of Fame inductee, Michael Bisping, if the Endicott native attempts to avoid a title fight with current interim gold holder, Tom Aspinall in the future.
Jones, a former two-time undisputed light heavyweight champion and pound-for-pound number one ranked fighter, has been sidelined from the Octagon since he landed the vacat heavyweight crown back in March of last year with a first round guillotine choke submission win over Ciryl Gane.
As for Aspinall, the Atherton native struck interim spoils back in November at UFC 295 in Madison Square Garden, landing a spectacular first round KO win over surging Russian contender, Sergei Pavlovich.
And in the time since his victory, British champion, Aspinall has been vocal in his pursuit of a title unification with Jones in the future – once the fan-favorite returns from a pectoral tendon tear injury, and a recent procedure to shave down multiple bone spurs in his elbow.
“If he (Jon Jones) doesn’t fight Tom Aspinall, if he beats Stipe (Miocic), that will forever be the narrative,” Michael Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “That will forever be the narrative – that he’s ducking Tom Aspinall, that he’s afraid of Tom Aspinall, that he looks at Tom Aspinall – this gigantic man, a tru heavyweight that moves like a middleweight, that has ridiculous finishing ability, a heavyweight Georges St-Pierre, a mixed martial arts version of Muhammad Ali.”
“How on earth can Jon Jones retire when there’s another active, defending heavyweight champion?” Bisping questioned. “You just can’t do that. That is madness, and it will affect his legacy and tarnish his accomplishments forever.”
Do you believe Jon Jones fights Tom Aspinall in the future?
Interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall reveals hate messages he has received since he began campaigning for a Jon…
With him failing to secure a title unification clash against Jon Jones anytime soon, interim heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall…
Chael Sonnen recently spoke wisdom about the Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall situation and devised a cunning game plan…
Michael Bisping believes Jon Jones will tarnish his legacy by ducking a fight with Tom Aspinall. Stepping into the…
UFC star, Jon Jones’ legacy will most definitely be called into question according to Hall of Fame inductee, Michael…