Tom Aspinall argues for Jon Jones fight over Stipe Miocic: ‘It’s about who’s the best right now’

Tom Aspinall believes he deserves to fight Jon Jones instead of Stipe Miocic.

This past November, UFC heavyweight champion Jones was supposed to defend his title against Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 295. Unfortunately, Jones was forced out of the fight due to injury, and instead, Apinall stepped in on short notice to face Sergei Pavlovich for an interim title, while the UFC planned to rebook Jones and Miocic at a later date. Aspinall ended up winning the interim belt with a 69-second knockout, and while the UFC seems to still be on board with Jones defending against Miocic, it sounds like Aspinall is getting a bit impatient.

On Thursday, Aspinall took to social media to decry the idea of Miocic getting to fight for a title despite his long layoff.

To Aspinall’s point, UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira first competed for the promotion in November of 2021, eight months after Miocic’s most recent fight, and has since fought seven times, winning both the UFC light heavyweight and middleweight titles.

But Aspinall didn’t stop there. Though the UFC has yet to officially announce a fight between Jones and Miocic, UFC CEO Dana White did previously declare that Aspinall would not get the opportunity to fight either Jones or Miocic next, and Aspinall is none too pleased.

Surely if you’re interim champ, your next fight should be to fight for undisputed? Come on

— Tom Aspinall (@AspinallMMA) January 4, 2024

Stipe is one of my favourites. Loads of respect to him his Résumé is far superior to mine rn. That being said the UFC has never been about this. It’s about who’s the best right now, and I believe that’s me and it’s only right I get to prove it #freeaspinall

— Tom Aspinall (@AspinallMMA) January 4, 2024

“Surely if you’re interim champ, your next fight should be to fight for undisputed? Come on

“Stipe is one of my favorites. Loads of respect to him his résumé is far superior to mine [right now]. That being said the UFC has never been about this. It’s about who’s the best right now, and I believe that’s me and it’s only right I get to prove it #freeaspinall”

Widely considered the most accomplished heavyweight in UFC history, Miocic has not fought since getting knocked out by Francis Ngannou in March 2021 and holds no wins over currently ranked UFC heavyweights. In contrast, Aspinall has four wins over currently ranked top-10 heavyweights, all by first-round finish.

This is not the first time Aspinall has spoken out about his current situation. Not long after winning the title, the interim champion suggested Jones should be stripped of his belt due to injury, as has happened with several recent champions. Jones, of course, did not like this idea much and, at least for the time being, it seems like he is still set on facing Miocic sometime in 2024.

***UPDATE***

Aspinall continued to post about the possible fight between Jones and Miocic, again calling into question the reasonableness of Miocic getting a title shot given the circumstances.

Final fun fact:
Since stipe last won a fight (Aug ‘20) , I have blown my knee out, went thru the rehab process and had a year off, also had 7 UFC fights, including 4 wins vs top 10 ranked opponents and won the interim title on 2 weeks notice

— Tom Aspinall (@AspinallMMA) January 4, 2024

Absolutely, Stipe has a great Resume and is a legend in his own right. So has Tony Furgeson. Maybe we should give him a shot at the undisputed title next too?

— Tom Aspinall (@AspinallMMA) January 4, 2024

“Final fun fact:

“Since Stipe last won a fight (Aug ‘20) , I have blown my knee out, went [through] the rehab process and had a year off, also had 7 UFC fights, including 4 wins vs top 10 ranked opponents and won the interim title on 2 weeks notice

“Absolutely, Stipe has a great resume and is a legend in his own right. So has Tony [Ferguson]. Maybe we should give him a shot at the undisputed title next too?”