Dana White, the big boss of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, has made a slight change in his opinion. He’s shifted his view on the heavyweight title scene.
The reigning heavyweight champ, Jon Jones, was all set to defend his title. His opponent was former champ Stipe Miocic. The fight was scheduled for UFC 295 last month. However, Jones had to pull out because of an injury.
The Las Vegas-based promotion didn’t waste any time. They quickly organized an interim title fight on short notice. Tom Aspinall, with a record of 14-3, delivered a shock to the world. He knocked out Sergei Pavlovich in the first round. Pavlovich had a record of 18-2 at the time.
White had previously stated that Aspinall would fight the winner of Jones vs. Miocic. This was to be a title unification bout. This was despite Aspinall’s call to strip Jones of the title. But now, the UFC head honcho seems to have changed his mind. He’s hinting that Aspinall might defend his interim title while waiting for Jones to return.
White made a statement to TNT Sports. He said, “Aspinall could possibly fight again. I don’t know. We’ll see how this plays out going into the next year. But Jones and Stipe, the fight, they both deserve it. Jon Jones got injured. There’s nothing he can do about it. We’ll see what happens in 2024. If Aspinall wants to fight before that fight happens, why not? Why not let him defend it? We’ll figure it out.”
White also talked about Stipe’s accomplishments in the sport. He said, “If you look at what Stipe has accomplished in this sport, what he’s done, where he’s at in his career, he wants the Jon Jones fight, and I get it. Arguably the greatest heavyweight of all time vs. the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. He wants that fight, it’s a big legacy fight for both guys. He wants Jones—and Jones wants Stipe. While Jon Jones is injured, if [Aspinall] wants to defend the title, we’d absolutely do it.”
Jailton Almeida, who is ranked No. 7, had called for an interim title shot against Aspinall. But now, he’s been booked against No. 5 ranked Curtis Blaydes for UFC 299 in March. With Pavlovich and Miocic holding the No. 3 and 4 spots respectively, second-ranked Ciryl Gane seems to be the likely match for Aspinall. This could be for a potential interim title defense.