Tom should forget about Jones and ask for another fight

[AMAZINGUFC]

Okay well it's very clear that Tom's path, as it should be, is to wait 6 months for Jon. That is staying active lol, any fight he's gonna take will be minimum 3-4 months from now, so what's another 2-3 months. The earliest he could fight is June since the main events for April and May are set, so that is 3 months already. Anything after that is 4 months +, so he may as well wait for Jon.

He doesn't want both. All he wants to do is fight for the actual HW title. His words to the UFC are simple, make the Jon fight happen and I'll wait or if Jon doesn't want to fight make him vacate or strip him and I'll fight someone else.

It's that simple and how it will go down. As much as the UFC loves Jon, they're not going to let him just sit out and refuse to fight the #1 contender.

No!
Tom will have to wait six months from the signing date, which is still unknown.
And just a small detail—here, we are being optimistic that it would be six months from the signing date.
Pay attention—optimistic, and I don't think things will go that way.

 

[markg171]

It's not impossible though.

Absolutely nothing is stopping the UFC from stripping Jon if he refuses to fight the only deserving contender in his division for his very disputed title.

If Jon won't take the fight, then the UFC is completely free to make Aspinall vs whoever for the undisputed belt.

Ducks don't get to keep their belts indefinitely.

If they strip Jon for not fighting "the only deserving contender" then who and how does Tom suddenly by contrast have someone he can fight for the title?

Or are you giving the game away that you just don't want Jon to be champion?

 

[JKS]

Interims exist in lieu of the champion. Hence why they've usually fought more recently than the actual title holder.

Tom has not. He should either fight again to prove he's an alternative champion, be stripped of a useless title with a re-active champion, or unify.

Hope this helps.

That is not correct. Tom fought before Jon in both cases. When Jon got injured Tom stepped in and fought for the interim belt. And when the UFC, Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic were taking their time to negotiate their "legacy" fight, Tom once again fought in the summer before Jon. It was on the UFC in this case as they made a legacy fight rather than having the interim champ fight the undisputed champ.

Tom has no business defnending his interim title right now beacause Jon Jones is open and healthy and ready to fight anytime. There is not one reasonable arguement to to make in regards to Tom fighting again against anyone other than Jones. Tom fought once, took the risk while being interim champ and Jon fought once defending his belt. The games are over, time to fight boys.

 

[AMAZINGUFC]

*Updated photo of Tom Aspinall when he becomes the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion.

 

[AMAZINGUFC]

If there's one thing that drives me crazy, it's seeing Tom Aspinall's father and him praising Jon Jones at this point in the game.

It really makes me lose my mind.

 

[Human Bass]

How does having a championship prove you're the best?

Wow, a new level of retarded

 

[Blastbeat]

If they strip Jon for not fighting "the only deserving contender" then who and how does Tom suddenly by contrast have someone he can fight for the title?

Or are you giving the game away that you just don't want Jon to be champion?

they could make Tom vs Gane for the undisputed title, according to the rankings Gane is currently #2.

they could also feasibly make Tom vs Jailton too, even though Jailton is #6 he's only lost to Curtis Blaydes, who Tom just beat. its a pretty intriguing fight since Tom has not really been challenged meaningfully with any grappling.

but honestly, the most appropriate fight IMO would be Tom vs Volkov 2 because i think Volkov got robbed and should have got the decision vs Gane. im not really a fan of Tom vs Volkov 2 because of how Tom just ran through him the first time. i dont really see it going any differently in a 2nd fight. but if we're talking who DESERVES it the most besides Tom, i think its Volkov.

there's a pretty big skill gap between the top 5-6 HWs and the bottom half of the top 15.

 

[Human Bass]

If they strip Jon for not fighting "the only deserving contender" then who and how does Tom suddenly by contrast have someone he can fight for the title?

Or are you giving the game away that you just don't want Jon to be champion?

If Jones doesnt want to fight anymore, he doesnt want to remain champion, he just wants to be a former champion.

 

[Blastbeat]

ah fuck it, just re-sign Parker Porter and have him fight Tom. Tom wont be ready for that Pork

 

[markg171]

Well, there it is... the dumbest thing I will read all day. Thanks bro. You're taking "shillingness" to a whole new level now.



Looks like I might have got my last comment wrong.

The UFC created the interim belt. Tom won it. Period. The status quo up until now has been the undisputed champion unify with the interim champ, so you're going to have to excuse anyone who still believes that makes sense.

It was ALL the Jon-boy knobgobblers that were bent on seeing Jones defend his (artificially installed) belt against the retired firefighter instead of the interim champion. They (collectively) are the ones who fucked up the program. Not Tom, and it is disingenuous to even suggest otherwise. The UFC absolutely could have intervened at any time and course-corrected that, but they chose not to. Not on Tom.

However, Tom did show up and strangely enough, defended an "interim" title (against a legitimate top-10 HW at that). I like how you tried to frame it as if it is Tom being the one dragging their heels though. Tom won and then defended an interim title before Jon even nailed his first title defense. Asking Tom to, or having him defend an Interim championship for a second time is beyond absurd. That is pro-wrestling level shit, period.

And how are you going to sit there with a straight face and say Tom needs to prove he's still an alternative champion? Is every division going to have two active champs now? It is ironic that the ONLY way Tom can unify is if he in fact, fights Jon and no other.

I am not even going to pretend to know what you meant by "be stripped of a useless title with a re-active champion" means.

Mate you're writing walls of text to try and justify the continued existence of a fake title the UFC themselves are treating as fake and unnecessary.

You've completely lost the plot.

 

[JKS]

No!
Tom will have to wait six months from the signing date, which is still unknown.
And just a small detail—here, we are being optimistic that it would be six months from the signing date.
Pay attention—optimistic, and I don't think things will go that way.

Yes, he will have to wait 6 months from the signing date. But that is no different than him negotiating and waiting to sign another fight. Under the impression Tom would take another fight, it would take just as long to sign another potential fight. It's not like Tom can just sign to fight Gane or Almeid tomorrow. It would be another 1 month or more to sign another fight which is the same thing as waiting to sign the Jones fight.

At the least the Jones fight has already been in talks and being negotiated and the money has been sorted out. It's just a matter of a date. A different fight he would be starting negotiaiotns over, looking for the new oppoent and date. And that would be all take place after Tom made the decision to fight someone else, which will still take time.

The way things are looking, Jon Jones and the UFC are likely looking at MSG which is always in Novmber. It's a huge event and always a massive gate and big PPV. The fight would be finalized in April/May and then 6 months takes it to November.

 

[markg171]

they could make Tom vs Gane for the undisputed title, according to the rankings Gane is currently #2.

they could also feasibly make Tom vs Jailton too, even though Jailton is #6 he's only lost to Curtis Blaydes, who Tom just beat. its a pretty intriguing fight since Tom has not really been challenged meaningfully with any grappling.

but honestly, the most appropriate fight IMO would be Tom vs Volkov 2 because i think Volkov got robbed and should have got the decision vs Gane. im not really a fan of Tom vs Volkov 2 because of how Tom just ran through him the first time. i dont really see it going any differently in a 2nd fight. but if we're talking who DESERVES it the most besides Tom, i think its Volkov.

there's a pretty big skill gap between the top 5-6 HWs and the bottom half of the top 15.

If all of these people are viable contenders that Tom can have a title fight with then they're also all viable contenders for Jon Jones too.

 

[Blastbeat]

If all of these people are viable contenders that Tom can have a title fight with then they're also all viable contenders for Jon Jones too.

agreed. i dont know if Jones will stick around IF he beats Tom. he may choose to retire after that.

but i would be curious about Volkov vs Jones simply because Volkov is so fucking big and Jones has never faced anyone that huge.

 

[xhaydenx]

Tom and his team are so stupid that they blame Jones when they should really be blaming and arguing with the UFC.

He's been negotiating with the UFC over this plenty already. He just goes after Jon publicly. He's not going to do that to the UFC and piss them off.

 

[xhaydenx]

Tom should just keep fighting and making money for now.

Jon has 1 fight left in him, if that. Tom's a really hard fight that I doubt he wants to take a risk with. Going out on a win and basically undefeated would be massive for his legacy.

More likely we see Jon just string Tom along for a bit longer and then just retire.

 

[jitzmonkey]

It's hard to do that considering the media reports are the Jon has accepted and sorted out the money part and now it's just down to the venue and date. Jon already came out and said he will accept the fight but needs 6 months to get ready.

Considering how many times "we've" been disappointed, I wouldn't count on it if I was him.

 

[mkess101]

Mate you're writing walls of text to try and justify the continued existence of a fake title the UFC themselves are treating as fake and unnecessary.

You've completely lost the plot.

No, YOU have lost the plot. Or never had it.


Tell me, what is the objective hard and fast difference between the "regular" HW title and the "interim" one. What gives each its value?

The organization can strip ANY champ at any time for any reason. Let that sink in. Jones belt is every bit as "fake" as Tom's because it's completely up to the whims of Dana and the UFC brass as to what holds value at a given time. They jump lower ranked contenders into title shots based on business and not merit. The belts may "mean something" to some people (including fighters) but when boiled down, they're arbitrary trinkets who's value is wholly dependent on the utterly subjective views of those who hold the purse strings.

As a fan with eyes and some knowledge of the sport, the picture has become very clear and it shows there are two clear cut top HW's that we should want to see fight each other. If it's for a belt, great. Whatever. But if the UFC disbanded tomorrow and some billionaire set up a fight between the two for a massive amount of $ to each to simply see who the best was, it would be no less compelling because Jones and Aspinall didn't enter the cage with their trinkets.

 

[AMAZINGUFC]

Yes, he will have to wait 6 months from the signing date. But that is no different than him negotiating and waiting to sign another fight. Under the impression Tom would take another fight, it would take just as long to sign another potential fight. It's not like Tom can just sign to fight Gane or Almeid tomorrow. It would be another 1 month or more to sign another fight which is the same thing as waiting to sign the Jones fight.

At the least the Jones fight has already been in talks and being negotiated and the money has been sorted out. It's just a matter of a date. A different fight he would be starting negotiaiotns over, looking for the new oppoent and date. And that would be all take place after Tom made the decision to fight someone else, which will still take time.

The way things are looking, Jon Jones and the UFC are likely looking at MSG which is always in Novmber. It's a huge event and always a massive gate and big PPV. The fight would be finalized in April/May and then 6 months takes it to November.

November, I hope you're right.

 

[JKS]

Considering how many times "we've" been disappointed, I wouldn't count on it if I was him.

I think fans are being too impatient and not understanding in this scenario. I also think that too many people are taking the time last year where Tom was demanding this fight and the UFC going with Stipe/Jones as part of this delay. I think it has to be separated and understood that whatever was going on in 2024 was not real talks as this fight had zero chance of happening then.

I think people need to realize that since November 2024 to now is the first time this fight has actually been negotiated and looking to be made for an event. It hasn't even been 4 months yet and we know these fights with Jon take time to materialize. Like I said, the last few months is the first time the UFC has actually tried to make this fight, it's not some two year journey. It just takes time.

 

[Captain Herb]

Hi Jon