Aspinall is not better than Jon Jones (they are even),

[Luffy]

Had not fought in 3 years. Every ranking system has a cut off for eligibility and most it is 1 year. 3 years retired and 42 years old. BTW Khalil was ranked #8 as well.

Yeah and Khalil did better than Jiri and Hill... As did Stipe than the then #1 Gane. Some times, ranks don't mean much. In Gane's case it did because he had been the most dominant barring Ngannou... But in Stipe's case, he was inactive... That doesn't mean the raking reflected his true abilities, like pfp doesn't, it's more related to activity. And lack of activity doesn't necessarily equals worst performance, hiatus are actually good many times rather than fighting over and over.

 

[whocares]

Yes, that's how it works when they vacate the belt.

There is no "how it works". The UFC makes fights how they want to and they aren't bound by any rules. The only thing they're thinking about with matchmaking is $$$. That's why Jon is where he is and Tom is where he is. You can say Jon earned the position by his rep and being worth more to the company, but not because he beat anybody that mattered.

 

[RedDevilFan]

Had not fought in 3 years. Every ranking system has a cut off for eligibility and most it is 1 year. 3 years retired and 42 years old. BTW Khalil was ranked #8 as well.

The fact is that the UFC had him ranked #8 and Stipe was not retired. Outside of the top 5 at HW, the lower half of the HW division is garbage. The UFC is ranked by the fighters competition and other criterion.

A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are in active status in the UFC. Stipe was in active status. Rankings are generated by a voting panel made up of media members.

Ranking systems all have their objective or subjective criterion as does the UFC. Most of the other ranking systems have all of MMA, the UFC only has the UFC fighters. Now if you can show me where a former reigning champion is out of the top 10 after 3 years in the UFC, regardless of injury or inactivity, then I can agree with you. Show me a bottom tier of HW fighters with a better record past 5 years than Stipe.

 

[Luffy]

There is no "how it works". The UFC makes fights how they want to and they aren't bound by any rules. The only thing they're thinking about with matchmaking is $$$. That's why Jon is where he is and Tom is where he is. You can say Jon earned the position by his rep and being worth more to the company, but not because he beat anybody that mattered.

Yes he did. He beat the then #1 contender. It's pretty easily to understand, actually.

 

[whocares]

Yes he did. He beat the then #1 contender. It's pretty easily to understand, actually.

He got a cherrypicked opponent. Do you disagree? And we already went over the rapid devaluation of your '#1 contender" status. It's flimsy. Like I said. Jon worth more, Jon get fight. Simple. Same way the UFC has always operated. This is what they do. What do you think this Stipe thing was all about? To see who the best HW is? Nah man they're building up hype and selling tickets. And the thing is, I don't begrudge them from doing business. But when you start talking about sporting legitimacy..ehhhh it's just entertainment now, the rules are gone. We can talk about Sean Omalley or Umar jumping 10 spots in the rankings off one fight. There's no rules

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

Tom wants to fight Old man coked out Jones.

No, Tom wants to fight the only guy ranked ahead of him and the guy that has the belt. Which, thanks to Dana White privilege more than anything, is Jon.

 

[Pauly]

We don't know cause Coke Jones chose to fight old man Stipe and not Tom.

The hyperbaric chamber vids of Jones in embedded was likely a bum steer.

More likely he received help from Charlie Sheen's Mexican Dr Ace Man to improve his cardiovascular and neurological functionality to give him the percentage edge he needed moving from LHW to HW for relevance and even dominance when carrying the extra muscle mass.

Jones is a product of developed martial arts and cutting edge athletic sports tech, which his prior earnings gave access to, which he converts into ever increasing paydays and net worth.

As for Stipe, quoting Seinfeld - The best revenge is a good life, which he can enjoy with his wife, family, friends and community he serves.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

Ranking systems all have their objective or subjective criterion as does the UFC.

No they don't. The criteria is picked and chosen at any given time

Some fighters have been removed for inactivity even when the inactivity was purely by choice and not injury/pregnancy/etc.., and there was never a consistent ruling as to how long/when, or why.

 

[VinceArch]

More likely he received help from Charlie Sheen's Mexican Dr Ace Man to improve his cardiovascular and neurological functionality to give him the percentage edge he needed moving from LHW to HW for relevance and even dominance when carrying the extra muscle mass.

 

[dipstickjimmy]

The fact is that the UFC had him ranked #8 and Stipe was not retired. Outside of the top 5 at HW, the lower half of the HW division is garbage. The UFC is ranked by the fighters competition and other criterion.

A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are in active status in the UFC. Stipe was in active status. Rankings are generated by a voting panel made up of media members.

Ranking systems all have their objective or subjective criterion as does the UFC. Most of the other ranking systems have all of MMA, the UFC only has the UFC fighters. Now if you can show me where a former reigning champion is out of the top 10 after 3 years in the UFC, regardless of injury or inactivity, then I can agree with you. Show me a bottom tier of HW fighters with a better record past 5 years than Stipe.

Show you any former champion outside the top 10? Brock,Werdum, JDS,Cain, Francis etc etc etc. Every former champion that stops fighting for the UFC drops out of the rankings. Before you say Stipe was still under contract...so were Brock, Cain and a few others. At what point is not fighting and not scheduled to fight recognized as not active.

Brock Lesnar was UFC champion in 2010 lost it to Cain and then lost to Reem in 2011. Was he back in the top 10 rankings when he came back in 2016 to fight Mark Hunt? No he wasn't. He was eligible to be ranked AFTER winning a fight.

Just because the UFC rankings are made up and follow no true set criteria doesn't mean you have to blindly believe what they choose to say. Dana says Power Slap is a real sport and not a massive CTE issue.

 

[Kyojiro Kagenuma]

Listen, Aspinall and JJ are basically even in the odds... It's a slight advantage to Tom Aspinall... And many experts say this slight advantage is due to Aspinall having a lot of footage of Jon Jones while Jon Jones has no footage of him, beyond flash KOs. So I'm spite of that and Aspinall being younger, the best are basically even... Which shows that even as of now at 37, Jon Jones is still as good as Aspinall.

Now, Aspinall knows that's the huge chance of him getting the best payment he may ever have and although he's also almost 50/50 to lose, the stakes would be way lesser for him, because he doesn't have the legacy and isn't already so financially secure as JJ is. In fact, Tom boy said once that he doesn't blame JJ, because if he were in JJ's position, he would also likely act the same way JJ is acting and would try to avoid the fight. So Aspinall admitted it openly.

But still, Aspinall is smart because he knows that even though he in the same position as JJ wouldn't want the fight, he knows that JJ has a obsessive competitive and a huge ego that is bigger than his own, so he knew that it wouldn't sit well with JJ the fact that ppl would call him a duck... So he knows that JJ wouldn't do what most would, or at least he would, not take the fight, because deep down he knows JJ wants to prove beyond doubts he is the better, so that's why he smartly provokes JJ always saying the word better, because he knows that trigger his competitive side due to his insane competitive nature even though he knows it'd be perfectly understandable to retire after the fight... But he explores this huge competitive and insane high will of JJ to shut up beyond any doubts that he is the best --- which is likely bigger than anyone else's in the UFC barring maybe Alex Pereira --- and so he understands JJ's mentality and also, understands how the fans would bug JJ so much because he has a lot of ppl wanting to see him losing.

I don't think he's better than Jon Jones was at his prime, but I think he's definitely better than Jon Jones is now.

 

[pamirec]

I’d root for Tom, but I’m giving the slight advantage to Jon. He always finds a way to win. If it’s a very close fight, judges will give it to Jon, no doubt.

 

[RedDevilFan]

Show you any former champion outside the top 10? Brock,Werdum, JDS,Cain, Francis etc etc etc. Every former champion that stops fighting for the UFC drops out of the rankings. Before you say Stipe was still under contract...so were Brock, Cain and a few others. At what point is not fighting and not scheduled to fight recognized as not active.

Brock Lesnar was UFC champion in 2010 lost it to Cain and then lost to Reem in 2011. Was he back in the top 10 rankings when he came back in 2016 to fight Mark Hunt? No he wasn't. He was eligible to be ranked AFTER winning a fight.

Just because the UFC rankings are made up and follow no true set criteria doesn't mean you have to blindly believe what they choose to say. Dana says Power Slap is a real sport and not a massive CTE issue.

Lesner retired from MMA in 2011 due to an intestinal disease which needed surgery. Stipe did not retire, he was bulking up for a trilogy against Ngannou and mentioned it. The pair are currently tied at one-a-piece, with Miocic beating him in 2018. During his time waiting, Miocic planed on putting on some size in preparation for a potential trilogy with Ngannou. That was his plan, he was never retired.

Stipe Miocic looking to bulk up for Francis Ngannou trilogy: 'I felt good, but I think 20 pounds will help'

If Stipe Miocic gets his rubber match with Francis Ngannou, he aims to be a lot bigger on the night.

mmajunkie.usatoday.com

Former reigning champions do not usually get taken out of the top 10 for years and not even after a good number of losses because of their former level of competition. In 2022 Stipe was ranked #2 behind Ngannou and Gane. Stipe then slipped to #8 in 2024 because of his waiting on Ngannou and the belt.

All the rankings are made up. On fight Matrix some nerds make it up based on some metrics they believe is correct. The UFC rankings are made by media outlets and others in the media. Dana is not making them up. You have heard him rant about the ratings himself. A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are of active status in the UFC, on roster and in-active status. Why would the UFC have fighters that are no longer on the roster in the top 10 or fighters from a different org. Ngannou no longer fights for the UFC so he is not a UFC ranked fighter.

 

[Cowboy Kurt Angle]

Power Tom

Boxing Tom

Striking Jones

Strength Even

Jiu Jitsu even

Wrestling slight lean towards Tom