UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall considers himself the best heavyweight in the world. MMA legend Jon Jones holds the heavyweight title, but has been inactive due to injury. While Jones has been on the mend, Aspinall has been defeating Top 5 ranked fighters.
Jones tore a pectoral muscle my training to face former two-time heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 this past November. He capture the heavyweight championship by defeating Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in March 2023, but hasn’t defended the belt. Aspinall defended his interim title at UFC 304, taking out Curtis Blaydes in 60 seconds.
Aspinall earned a ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus for his quick win over Blaydes and plans to wait for a title fight. UFC CEO Dana White believes the winner of the Jones and Miocic fight ‘owes’ Aspinall a title fight.
“There’s not enough credit being given for this, what he did to Curtis Blaydes, the way that he did and how fast that he did it, there’s no doubt. This guy is a scary dude,” White said in an interview with Kevin Iole. “He looks like the future of the heavyweight division.
“He looks great, and he looks like he’s going to be the guy. You have Stipe and Jon, who have paid their dues; they’ve been here forever. They fought everybody. They fought all the fights you could possibly fight. These guys deserve to fight each other. Whoever wins that fight, I think that they owe it to Aspinall to fight him to give him the opportunity that they’ve been given,” White continued.
“When you look at Jones and Stipe, they’ve beaten all the guys. Right? You’re either going to be the guy that cement your legacy forever, or you’re going to hand the torch off the way the torch was handed off to you guys by all the guys that came before you.”
