Jones at heavyweight, whats going on?

[Stump]

Whats happening here with Dana freezing the hw division for Jones and Stipe?

I cant figure out the logic. Why would you lock down the championship of a division that is already really weak at the current moment, in order to put on a fight between a guy who said he's going to retire after vs a guy who essentially already has retired and is being pulled back for this match? Either way, the winner of the hw belt is going to vacate it. That's not good for the ufc, is it?

Really. What's the angle here? Why would they do this? Do they figure this will.build buzz for the hw division and in the mean time the contenders in hw will gain steam, so ultimately, after the Jones-miocic fight, they'll have a matured and deeper hw division?

Are the ufc traumatized by Francis leaving and they're reactively locking down the division out of some subconscious need to exert control?

Does Jon have photos of Dana wearing a dress and he's extorting him?

Has Jon promised he'll fight one more time after presumably beating stipe, so he can lose to whatever top contender exists at the time, and then the ufc can say that their current hw champ is legit because he's just beaten the all time great, 2 division champion?

What gives?

 

[Uber_Noober]

Jones will be calling the shots here, he has the videos of Daner at Diddy’s freak off parties.

 

[Davidjacksonjones]

I guess its because Jones is more well-known and is a bigger draw and Dana sees him having the undisputed belt as more profitable. Dana will try to milk Jones one final time before he tosses him in the trash and promoting Jones vs Stipe for the belt will generate more interest than if it was a non title fight

 

[Asahi]

Did the UFC at least not offer Aspinal to Jones?

 

[oski]

Jones IS the heavyweight division.

 

[loisestrad]

Jones - Stipe was for a long time THE fight to make at HW.

You know, by being a hardcore fan (which you are by being a sherdogger, and that's not even me kidding), you can oftentimes get swayed into believes such as "Jones - Aspinall would be a much better fight" or even "Fuck Jones!!"

The thing is, Aspinall is a nobody. Stipe isn't, and Jones obviously isn't, So it makes perfect sense to go for Jones-Stipe for as long as possible.

 

[Clark Rogers]

5,246,321 iterations of this exact thread, but I have a feeling this is the one that'll change things.

 

[Dana's Moonface]

Jones is much bigger than mma and especially the HW division

 

[Cartiac]

Really. What's the angle here? Why would they do this? Do they figure this will.build buzz for the hw division and in the mean time the contenders in hw will gain steam, so ultimately, after the Jones-miocic fight, they'll have a matured and deeper hw division?

Yes, that is exactly their angle. Jon Jones' name is the most and arguably only valuable thing they have going in the HW division so they certainly want to use that as much as they can. There is a good possibility Jones never fights again due to the severity of his injury.

Jones and Miocic have made it clear they only want to fight each other so whether that fight ever happens is not blocking anything in the division at all but without being able to keep floating their names as future possibilities the bleakness of the division gets a lot more obvious.

 

[rjmbrd]

Jones - Stipe was for a long time THE fight to make at HW.

You know, by being a hardcore fan (which you are by being a sherdogger, and that's not even me kidding), you can oftentimes get swayed into believes such as "Jones - Aspinall would be a much better fight" or even "Fuck Jones!!"

The thing is, Aspinall is a nobody. Stipe isn't, and Jones obviously isn't, So it makes perfect sense to go for Jones-Stipe for as long as possible.

The big fight was Jones vs Ngannou, and U Fight Cheap couldn't get it done.

Ngannou murdered Stipe over 3 years ago - setting aside getting KO'd by Cormier two fights prior. You probably have to go back to 2018 to think about legit demand for Jones -vs- Stipe. Thats half a dozen years ago.

Discovery out of the class action lawsuit demonstrates the UFC operating in a ruthless and often petty manner, but none of it is complicated.

Aspinall probably beats Jones. That takes one of the few guys who can sell a PPV off the table. It also takes another marketing tool in 'we have GOAT champions.' HW is a premiere division and the world champion walked out of the org. Jones is helping with marketing that this was no big deal, because the real best HW is now fighting there.

 

[Stump]

Jones - Stipe was for a long time THE fight to make at HW.

You know, by being a hardcore fan (which you are by being a sherdogger, and that's not even me kidding), you can oftentimes get swayed into believes such as "Jones - Aspinall would be a much better fight" or even "Fuck Jones!!"

The thing is, Aspinall is a nobody. Stipe isn't, and Jones obviously isn't, So it makes perfect sense to go for Jones-Stipe for as long as possible.

I dunno, mate. Jones for sure has cache, but Stipe?? in 2024?? He's old, retired and coming off a KO loss.

And do you think it makes enough sense to justify waiting so long, given that they'll be waiting for probably 2, 2 and a half years, where the HW division will be without a belt and that the winner of this battle of the not-nobodies is going to retire with the belt? Does it make that much sense? I don't think so, at all. I think it fucks up the HW division pretty badly for a fight that isn't that spectacular in the first place. When was Stipe a huge draw?

Aspinal has the british fanbase angle, and I think in a Jones-Stipe match, 80% of the hype is coming from Jones, anyway. Stipe doesnt strike me as much more of a needle mover than aspinal.

 

[Stump]

The big fight was Jones vs Ngannou, and U Fight Cheap couldn't get it done.

Ngannou murdered Stipe over 3 years ago - setting aside getting KO'd by Cormier two fights prior. You probably have to go back to 2018 to think about legit demand for Jones -vs- Stipe. Thats half a dozen years ago.

Discovery out of the class action lawsuit demonstrates the UFC operating in a ruthless and often petty manner, but none of it is complicated.

Aspinall probably beats Jones. That takes one of the few guys who can sell a PPV off the table. It also takes another marketing tool in 'we have GOAT champions.' HW is a premiere division and the world champion walked out of the org. Jones is helping with marketing that this was no big deal, because the real best HW is now fighting there.

I'm thinking this is probably closer to the answer. As I suggested in the OP, I think Jones probably shook hands on an agreement that he fights one more time after Stipe, with the understanding that he'll probably lose - to, say, aspinall (although who fucking knows what the division will look like by the time this fight actually happens, probably 2 years or longer from now.)

This way, the UFC can have Jones soak up the glory that Stipe supposedly has as "best ever HW champion" and then jones will be the virtually unbeaten, long-time LHW champion who ALSO beat the best HW champion. Then Aspinall can fight Jones and beat him, and the UFC can say, look - fuck Francis, our current HW champ is legit. He beat Jones, who dominated LHW and beat the HW GOAT.

It's gotta be that.

 

[Stump]

Yes, that is exactly their angle. Jon Jones' name is the most and arguably only valuable thing they have going in the HW division so they certainly want to use that as much as they can. There is a good possibility Jones never fights again due to the severity of his injury.

Jones and Miocic have made it clear they only want to fight each other so whether that fight ever happens is not blocking anything in the division at all but without being able to keep floating their names as future possibilities the bleakness of the division gets a lot more obvious.

Hmm, so you think it comes down to Jones refusing to fight Aspinall? I could see that, too I suppose. I can understand why Jones would want the Stipe fight - its an opportunity to add some serious accolades to his legacy (beating the supposed HW GOAT), at a time when old rusty, retired firefighter stipe should be beatable.

Why would the UFC go for that though? From their interests, wouldn't it make more sense to force Jon to fight Aspinall, so that Aspinall can absorb Jones's hype? Why jam up the division to give the belt to someone who is just gonna retire?

 

[OldBoy91]

Did the UFC at least not offer Aspinal to Jones?

No.

According to Aspinall himself, he was offered Stipe for UFC 300 though. He accepted the fight but was informed shortly after Stipe had no interest in fighting anybody but Jones.

 

[Cartiac]

Hmm, so you think it comes down to Jones refusing to fight Aspinall? I could see that, too I suppose. I can understand why Jones would want the Stipe fight - its an opportunity to add some serious accolades to his legacy (beating the supposed HW GOAT), at a time when old rusty, retired firefighter stipe should be beatable.

Why would the UFC go for that though? From their interests, wouldn't it make more sense to force Jon to fight Aspinall, so that Aspinall can absorb Jones's hype? Why jam up the division to give the belt to someone who is just gonna retire?

Yea, Jones made it clear he wanted to beat Stipe in MSG because beating the most successful UFC HW in that epic arena in his birth state would be the perfect way to ride off into the sunset and end his career. His injury really messed up that plan.

Jones has defiantly proven several occassions that UFC can't force him to do anything and he has never refused to fight Aspinall, he has actually actively engaged in promoting that as a possibility. I don't see how you think anything to do with Jon Jones is jamming up the division, what fights are not happening? Whether Jones fights again or not, Aspinall is gaining major benefit from the hype he could not get otherwise and doing a great job making the most of it himself.

 

[moreorless87]

Jones - Stipe was for a long time THE fight to make at HW.

You know, by being a hardcore fan (which you are by being a sherdogger, and that's not even me kidding), you can oftentimes get swayed into believes such as "Jones - Aspinall would be a much better fight" or even "Fuck Jones!!"

The thing is, Aspinall is a nobody. Stipe isn't, and Jones obviously isn't, So it makes perfect sense to go for Jones-Stipe for as long as possible.

Stipe was never a big draw even during his run and he's now many years away from that.

 

[don't ask]

I think Jones' 3-year lay-off has the answers. I think it was a drug suspension, Dana agreed to keep it quiet and he'd take care of Jones when the suspension was done and Jones agreed to not do anything to embarrass the UFC because UFC is vulnerable to exposure because of all the strings they pulled to let him cheat. (Also, I think Dana overestimates what kind of draw Jones is in a time when they've got no other stars.) Fast forward to now, when the UFC ditches USADA, rewrites the PED levels that constitute cheating (for which Jones calls himself a hero), and the HW division is manipulated to give every chance to earn money for the UFC.

The UFC is less of an actual sport than it's ever been before.

 

[CashMoney1991]

Jones should be stripped

 

[Asahi]

No.

According to Aspinall himself, he was offered Stipe for UFC 300 though. He accepted the fight but was informed shortly after Stipe had no interest in fighting anybody but Jones.

Thanks for clarifying.

 

[filthybliss]

Jones is much bigger than mma and especially the HW division

bingo. this right here, your average person that doesn't know anything about mma could know about jones, a girl that i was talking to, knew of jones but thought the ufc was a wrestling organization