Stipe Miocic responds to Tom Aspinall over flurry of calls for Jon Jones fight

Lots of MMA observers assume former UFC heavyweight Stipe Miocic ought to step apart to resolve the perfect within the big-man division. That features interim champ Tom Aspinall, who’s publicly campaigned to unify the belt in opposition to undisputed champ Jon Jones.

On Friday, Miocic responded to a sequence of tweets from Aspinall arguing the title unifier must be subsequent on the UFC’s schedule, and for all of the affordable factors the U.Ok. titleholder raised, the American additionally had an affordable one.

“I’ve by no means prompted a delay within the Jon combat,” Miocic wrote on Friday.

In his pitch to combat Jones, Aspinall cited Miocic’s inactivity by the use of the discharge of Grand Theft Auto 2.

Miocic was scheduled to combat Jones this previous November at UFC 295. However previous to the occasion, Jones suffered a torn pectoral in coaching, and the UFC elected to make an interim title combat on quick discover between Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich. Aspinall gained the interim belt with a first-round knockout and shortly after known as to unify the belt.

However quite than go over Miocic, UFC CEO Dana White promised to reschedule Miocic vs. Jones when “Bones” was wholesome sufficient to combat. That put Apsinall within the lurch for probably most of 2024.

This week, Aspinall took to social media to plead his case.

In a current look on The MMA Hour, Aspinall urged the UFC to let him transfer ahead together with his profession.

“I feel that Stipe and Jones is a fully superb match up,” he stated. “However for my part, that was a tremendous matchup for this previous weekend, and I really feel just like the shine of that combat has type of gone. I don’t know the way anyone else feels about that, however I really feel like now, they should make both me and John Jones, or me and Stipe, as a result of what’s type of the purpose within the different stuff? Let’s transfer ahead, let me combat one of many legends now, and let me transfer ahead with my profession, versus doing this different stuff and wait round.

“[Jones vs. Miocic] was superb. That’s a tremendous match up. However I don’t need to see that, and I don’t assume anybody else needs to see that in a yr’s time. Let’s transfer on from that now, and let me combat one of many legends and beat the legends.”

Miocic’s most up-to-date UFC look was in March 2021, when he misplaced the heavyweight title to then-champ Francis Ngannou. It was broadly reported that his bout with Jones at UFC 295 was prone to function his retirement bout, although he repeatedly stated he wasn’t selected the matter.

Miocic proposed a showdown with Aspinall assuming a win over Jones after they ultimately met.

“Tom, as soon as I get this win, let’s discuss to unify the belt,” he wrote.