The Stipe that wrestled Ngannou would be a good fight against Current Tom. He had and iron chin + KO power + wrestling, don't think Tom would sub from bottom. Depends on Tom's cardio and wrestling defense, it's not exactly proven.
Stipe that fought Jones is still probably a top 5 HW, as much as haters want to say he's no one, he was 41 years old when he fought Jones, 40 a year prior when they were scheduled to fight. You have Pavlovich, Almeida, Volkov, Blaydes, Waldo ranked #2-6. I'm not even going to bring up #7 or below, because he'd be a huge favorite over those guys. He was taking huge shots from Ngannou in 2021 until his chin gave out, but he was 38. His wrestling wasn't considered gone, but Ngannou got better TDD after 3 years training.
He probably would never be champ today, but still just another victim of discrediting Jones wins to say they suck and lose to everyone. Everyone said Gane was exposed yet he's 2-0 since losing to Jones. Look how easy people thought Spivac was going to beat Gane after Jones.
Take your pick! Poll will lock before the main event starts
Anyways likely Stipe is underrated compared to the frail old man portrayal of him talked about after he fought Jones, probably is better than people give him credit for. Also factor in a dog shit HW division that looks shallow.