Tom Aspinall Calls for Jon Jones to be Stripped: "I Should be the Real Champion."

[g*r*b]

what's the prognosis? when can he fight? got some sauce?

I don't know up-to-minute details, but when it was first reported they were saying an 8 month layoff. These guys (https://orthoarizona.org/blog/jon-jones-pec-tear) say 6 to 9 months is the norm to take before re-engaging in contact sports.

Yeah it ain't as quick as we'd want. But generally in the past they haven't talked of stripping belts until the year mark.

 

[Dirty Frank]

View attachment 1011915

Tom Aspinall is not happy with the way the UFC heavyweight division is being managed.

Aspinall strongly thinks Jon Jones should’ve been stripped of his UFC heavyweight title, as he recovers from a pectoral tear, and his 69-second knockout of Sergei Pavlovich this past Saturday at UFC 295 in New York should’ve been for the vacant belt.

Instead, Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) fought for and won the interim belt by knocking out Pavlovich. Instead of a unification bout next, the UFC is planning on Jones having defend his belt against Stipe Miocic in 2024.

Aspinall doesn’t think this is how things should play out, and is calling for the promotion to strip Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) from the belt.



Jones vs. Miocic was supposed to go down in the main event of UFC 295. However, due to Jones’ injury, the fight was cancelled with hopes of rebooking it in a later date. That’s when the promotion booked a last-minute bout between Aspinall and Pavlovich for the interim belt.

Miocic claims the UFC never gave him the option to fight for the interim title.

Aspinall thinks the right solution to this situation is for him to defend his belt against Miocic, and if successful, then welcome Jones back to competition. The Brit thinks there’s no interest from the fan base in a Jones vs. Miocic fight.



https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2023...ones-stripped-heavyweight-title-real-champion

He right

 

[FloydMayweatherMMA]

I agree with Tom on this, although he's probably gonna get shit from Jones fans for it.

 

[Paolo Delutis]

There is no "real champ" right now. The real champ left, after beating Gane first. That's what really gives Tom's words weight. This isn't some dominant longtime champ that got injured, he's in fact accomplished significantly less than Tom has at HW.

How does one remain the champion when they chose to leave the promotion under their own free will..

That's like a king moving away to live somewhere else and trying to still claim they are king of that land they chose to leave lol ..


That's not how that works ...almost never ends up good ..

 

[Dirty Frank]

View attachment 1011915

Tom Aspinall is not happy with the way the UFC heavyweight division is being managed.

Aspinall strongly thinks Jon Jones should’ve been stripped of his UFC heavyweight title, as he recovers from a pectoral tear, and his 69-second knockout of Sergei Pavlovich this past Saturday at UFC 295 in New York should’ve been for the vacant belt.

Instead, Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) fought for and won the interim belt by knocking out Pavlovich. Instead of a unification bout next, the UFC is planning on Jones having defend his belt against Stipe Miocic in 2024.

Aspinall doesn’t think this is how things should play out, and is calling for the promotion to strip Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) from the belt.



Jones vs. Miocic was supposed to go down in the main event of UFC 295. However, due to Jones’ injury, the fight was cancelled with hopes of rebooking it in a later date. That’s when the promotion booked a last-minute bout between Aspinall and Pavlovich for the interim belt.

Miocic claims the UFC never gave him the option to fight for the interim title.

Aspinall thinks the right solution to this situation is for him to defend his belt against Miocic, and if successful, then welcome Jones back to competition. The Brit thinks there’s no interest from the fan base in a Jones vs. Miocic fight.



https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2023...ones-stripped-heavyweight-title-real-champion

Again, it's great that Aspinall is calling out the UFC for this bullshite coddling of Saint Jones (who, bless him, is out there saving the world as he recovers), but he's coming across a wee bit of too vocal and entitled lately, given his shutting down of the Gane fight as well.
An interim champ trying to call the shots. Nothing wrong with that, but ehhhh.

 

[sanguinius]

I’m a big jones fan and everything he said was right.

 

[Substance Abuse]

Again, it's great that Aspinall is calling out the UFC for this bullshite coddling of Saint Jones (who, bless him, is out there saving the world as he recovers), but he's coming across a wee bit of too vocal and entitled lately, given his shutting down of the Gane fight as well.
An interim champ trying to call the shots. Nothing wrong with that, but ehhhh.

I don't think there's anything wrong with him speaking his mind. Everyone has an opinion. It's why we're here.

 

[nostradumbass]

The only reason Tom is in this position is because Jones got injured..

Tom's job now is to wait for the champion to get healthy so he can unify... trying to become undisputed without fighting and beating the champion in the ring is just strange and alittle weak lol . .


Now if Jones is heathy and says no to Tom that's different. Especially id Jones vs Stipe happens first and then Jones refuses to unify with Tom ...

Then ya .. maybe its time...


But Jones is the real champion and deserves his time to heal and fight his contenders...the only person who should actually be worried is Stipe cuz u could make the argument Tom can take his spot...But Jones cares about legacy and Stipe is a bigger legacy fight then unifying with Tom from England

Well that is what they're planning on doing. Tom wants the unification fight with Jones, but they're saying no, Jon's going to take time off for his injury and will fight Stipe when he comes back, and has said this entire time he wants to retire after he fights Stipe.
How does it help his "legacy" to have an interim champ and duck him for a 42 year old who will have not won a fight in over 4 years and got KO'd in 2 of his last 4 fights? If his legacy is crushing cans after popping for steroids 7 years ago, maybe that will solidify that legacy.



After the fight, Aspinall told media members that he believes he should be in a title unification bout with Jones right away.

When it was Dana White's turn to speak with reporters, he was asked if it's possible that the UFC brass could move away from Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic.

"No," White said. "You do those two. Those two both deserve that fight. That's the fight they want. What I love is that Jon Jones, as soon as he heard that he was injured and he knew how bad it was, went right to LA, got the surgery and he's already in rehab, physical therapy I should say."

If the UFC does indeed stick with Jones vs. Miocic, that would mean Aspinall has some waiting to do. White, however, didn't rule out the possibility of the English bruiser taking another fight.

"I don't know, we'll see how that plays out," White said. "We'll see what happens. [Aspinall] took this fight on short notice, obviously he looked great. He's got plenty of money to chill out for a minute, and we'll see."

​

 

[Paolo Delutis]

Well that is what they're planning on doing. Tom wants the unification fight with Jones, but they're saying no, Jon's going to take time off for his injury and will fight Stipe when he comes back, and has said this entire time he wants to retire after he fights Stipe.
How does it help his "legacy" to have an interim champ and duck him for a 42 year old who will have not won a fight in over 4 years and got KO'd in 2 of his last 4 fights? If his legacy is crushing cans after popping for steroids 7 years ago, maybe that will solidify that legacy.



After the fight, Aspinall told media members that he believes he should be in a title unification bout with Jones right away.

When it was Dana White's turn to speak with reporters, he was asked if it's possible that the UFC brass could move away from Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic.

If the UFC does indeed stick with Jones vs. Miocic, that would mean Aspinall has some waiting to do. White, however, didn't rule out the possibility of the English bruiser taking another fight.

​

Okay so it sounds like the UFC and Dana want the Jones Stipe fight...and so does Jones Nd Stipe...so who the fuck is Tom to think he can change that...lol

Interim belt doesnt mean shit lol ..

Tom has a free title shot when the times right...

 

[TankAbbott4Eva]

The problem is the UFC want Stipe v Jones to headline a PPV and so it needs to be for the strap in their eyes, I think this is why they didn't make Pav v Aspinall for the strap.

 

[nostradumbass]

Okay so it sounds like the UFC and Dana want the Jones Stipe fight...and so does Jones Nd Stipe...so who the fuck is Tom to think he can change that...lol

Interim belt doesnt mean shit lol ..

Tom has a free title shot when the times right...

The interim champ is who he is to think he can change that. That is the point of making an interim title to get Tom to take a fight on short notice and save the card against a guy who's been flat lining everybody. Guys will take fights on short notice to save a card if there's something to gain, not if you still get passed over because the "champ" wants to beat up senior citizens instead of a top opponent.

If stepping in to save a card for an interim title just means you have to sit out for a year and wait for the paper champ to hand pick easier opponents and avoid you, then why step in and save their cards?

 

[ferrisjso]

If he was smart he'd have waited 2 months to do this not 2 days.

 

[CatchtheseHands]

He never beat anyone outside of Curtis in proper conditions + already destroyed by a washed out Overeem.

Both Lewis and Tuivasa previously lost by KO and took their fight against Sergei way too soon, especially Tuivasa. But you can't even expect the most basic analyzes on Sherdog, so i'm not surprised.

As soon as he fought a more well rounded fighter in proper conditions, he got exposed again, just like against Overeem (but still washed out). And when i say in proper condtitions, it was actually a short notice for Aspinall but he still lost.

As for Gane, there's no evidence he ever ducked Aspinall if he needeed to fight him. Now he needs to fight him and wants the fight, but Aspinall doesn't want the fight anymore.

Also, Gane beat Tuivasa before fighting Jones and now he just beat Spivak, so no losing streak here. Jon Jones is the real champion, hence why Aspinall actually has a paper belt, just like Gane before him.

I really don't understand why people think beating Gane isn't a legit win. Dude has finished everyone he's fought aside from a prime Francis and fucking Jon Jones, and to be honest Jon Jones still beats 99% of the HW roster and the Francis that KO'ed Stipe probably finishes Jon and Tom so I don't really know why people think Gane losing to them means he isn't any good. Mean while everyone was hyping Pav only for him to get KO'ed within 2 minutes something that would have not happened if it were Gane fighting Tom.

 

[Royce Greasy]

I really don't understand why people think beating Gane isn't a legit win. Dude has finished everyone he's fought aside from a prime Francis and fucking Jon Jones, and to be honest Jon Jones still beats 99% of the HW roster and the Francis that KO'ed Stipe probably finishes Jon and Tom so I don't really know why people think Gane losing to them means he isn't any good. Mean while everyone was hyping Pav only for him to get KO'ed within 2 minutes something that would have not happened if it were Gane fighting Tom.

Aspinall beats Jones and Pav as well, I'd go as far as Ngannou stopping him.

He fought at LHW his whole career and really got beat at least twice there but was gifted decisions because he is a money maker and the illusion of having an invincible champion is something the UFC couldn't refuse, the point is this is HW whole different ball of wax where the 3 time cheat doesn't have a size advantage and now if he wants to actually prove he's the best he will have to face Aspinall who is well rounded unlike Gane who was hand picked to make Jones look good that won't happen with Aspinall or Pav even.

 

[Squarechoke]

When you didn't beat a champion for your title you need to work hard to become the legitimate champ. If Jones doesn't immediately fight the interim champion he has willingly forfeit that credibility.

 

[Dirty Frank]

I don't think there's anything wrong with him speaking his mind. Everyone has an opinion. It's why we're here.

I literally said "there's nothing wrong with that". tee-hee
You know pussy-asses like me are sensitive to assertive chads like Tom.

 

[MeatGrinder]

Have you ever been fingered by an mma fighter before?

 

[Rio Ferdinand]

Gane was 1-1 in his last 2 fights, while Pavlovich was on a 5-fight winning streak with better wins. Pav was the #1 contender since December 2022.

Cyril Gane had one loss which was against Ngannou (5 round decision) prior to fighting Jones.

Other than that he was undefeated in MMA, with wins over Derrick Lewis, Rosenstruik, Volkov, JDS, Tuivasa etc

He was the #1 contender.

 

[jx820]

I think he'd be better off and more likely to get under Jon's skin if he'd focus the discussion around how he's really the best HW and Jones is a paper champ, rather than what should be done with what belt of real vs interim championships.

I'm not convinced he is myself, but that kind of talk would probably be more likely to get him in the cage with Jon.

 

[Bobble Head]

I agree with him. I don’t dislike Jones or Stipe, but this fight is so irrelevant to me as a fan. Stipe is a part time fighter in his 40s who got sent into another time zone in his last fight.. which will have been well over 3 years ago by the time they fight. Tom is absolutely right about that.

Jones beating that version of Stipe will have no significance to me and I’ve said that before. Some people will say “it absolutely will have significance because of their status in MMA! GOAT vs. HW GOAT etc.” Yeah… but you know, context. You very well know Jones is being a business man here and is being very strategic. Sort of like GSP coming out of retirement to fight a 40 year old one eyed Bisping just to say he was a multi weight champ and then retired immediately after to preserve that legacy.

Just padding the legacy to look pretty on paper, but to a lot of people who pay attention, it’s whatever. Maybe a jaded look, but yeah. Tom vs. Jones would be a much more interesting fight to me. In fact, Tom should keep poking the bear to bring more interest to this.