Tom should just vacate the Interim belt.

[Mick Dojang]

We all know Jon isn’t gonna fight him, it would absolutely tarnish Jones’ legacy as a legitimate champ, a huge spit in the UFC’s face and the bald goof would go on suicide watch claiming Jones is the GOAT.

Jones is a chicken shit, his accolades at HW are garbage. Tom’s wasting his time chasing a skinny fat HW Jones, it’s embarrassing.

Imo he can either
- Try to move to PFL and get more money to fight Francis or something (doubtful but he may as well see what they'd offer, then use that as leverage against Dana)
or
- Ignore Jones entirely and just ask Dana for fights to defend the interim, act as if it's the heavyweight

It's pretty clear Jones won't fight him, but will happily string him along to waste a few years of his prime. Dana won't do shit about it as Jones is one of the last stars left in the sport, let alone UFC.

Tom has said in the past he just wants to make his money and go do something else before he gets too busted, if the big money Jones fight is never going to happen then he needs something else.

Though obviously the true Just Bleed move would be to convince Dana to let him fight in the Rizin HW Grand Prix but that's never happening

 

[deadshot138]

I'll do you one better. Tom should just retire.

 

[Spiderbite]

We all know Jon isn’t gonna fight him, it would absolutely tarnish Jones’ legacy as a legitimate champ, a huge spit in the UFC’s face and the bald goof would go on suicide watch claiming Jones is the GOAT.

Jones is a chicken shit, his accolades at HW are garbage. Tom’s wasting his time chasing a skinny fat HW Jones, it’s embarrassing.

I agree. Tom needs to capitalize on his earning years. Ditch the belt, Hoop over Jones and delegitimize the belt. Leave Jones standing there with a pointless belt. Let Dana pick up the pieces.

 

[CatchtheseHands]

With the belts in play, that won't happen. The UFC will make Jones decide within the next couple months and the latest they'll agree to for a fight will be NYC in fall. Aspinall will either get the Jones fight or be undisputed champ by October. Jones has a little leverage, but not that much. Conor could walk away (and seems to have) with $500m in the bank. Jones doesn't have that.

Jon probably holding out til the last minute for the absolute most the UFC is willing to part with before signing on.

 

[mkess101]

Jon probably holding out til the last minute for the absolute most the UFC is willing to part with before signing on.

It's either that or he already knows he's walking away and is gonna pretend he's negotiating and then walk and say "they wouldn't pay me what I'm worth, not my fault". It's absolutely one of the two.

I really hope it's the one you said.

 

[Broke Lester]

What he should do is keep his mouth, pretend like Jones doesn't exist and fight whoever is ranked under him, like he were the champion taking on the #1 contender. As a matter of fact he should call out the #2 contender.

 

[BowserJr]

I like ot OP!

Tom should fight Ngannou And make a huge joke of the UFC

 

[Prazeres]

This whole Jon/Tom drama is great for the UFC because it made people forget about Francis.

Tho, even if things had gone as planned (Jon fighting Stipe at 295 and Tom vs Pav for the vacant belt taking place a bit latter), most fan would have instantly considered him the real champ over Francis anyway because brand loyalty to the UFC is too strong.

 

[ThaiSexPills]

This actually brings up a good point and an opportunity to avoid this bullshit in the future.
Proposed rule change:
If the organization presents a matchup where an interim belt holder is set to challenge a title holder and the Champion refuses the fight the belt should immediately move to the challenger.
This log jam is unnecessary especially when a title holder represents a fighter that is expected to defend and an interim belt holder has already established that they're the most suitable opponent.

That’s basically how it always was though. It’s only since Jones got a belt that this has ever happened. Multiple champs have gotten stripped for avoiding opponents with lesser of a claim than Tom and a lot, lot faster. GDR and Nicco Montano are the most recent two I can think of.

 

[Neck&Neck]

Best I can do is an interim-interim belt

 

[orca]

We all know Jon isn’t gonna fight him, it would absolutely tarnish Jones’ legacy as a legitimate champ, a huge spit in the UFC’s face and the bald goof would go on suicide watch claiming Jones is the GOAT.

Jones is a chicken shit, his accolades at HW are garbage. Tom’s wasting his time chasing a skinny fat HW Jones, it’s embarrassing.

is he even a champion at anything?
rules says the interim champ gets stripped
the moment the champ fights

 

[L0ki]

Dunno but this fighting once a year bullshit isn't cutting it on either end.

 

[Deleted member 609094]

This has got the be one of the dumbest thought processes I've ever read in here.

 

[Hdfi]

We all know Jon isn’t gonna fight him, it would absolutely tarnish Jones’ legacy as a legitimate champ, a huge spit in the UFC’s face and the bald goof would go on suicide watch claiming Jones is the GOAT.

Jones is a chicken shit, his accolades at HW are garbage. Tom’s wasting his time chasing a skinny fat HW Jones, it’s embarrassing.

Why would he do that? interim belt is better than no belt at all. He just has to wait another 2 months or so until Jones finally gets stripped.

 

[Streeter]

Just throw away his only chance at a big money fight ever

Who else is there at HW that would get Tom anything but minor league money?

Well Anthony Smith threw away a bag of money when he let his JBJ fight continue. Folks like throwing away mo ney I guess.

 

[chinarice]

I agree they should and just give him Jon's belt if Jon isn't going to sign on the dotted line.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

The guy who is in a very strong bargaining position but being strung along should just give up all their leverage?

 

[nonoob]

in 1-2 more fights Tom will be fighting for the Undisputed vacant belt

Tom already owns the ONLY Undisputed HW belt.

EDIT...In My Humble Opinion for @El Fernas,

" if said fighter refuses to fight the #1 guy then the belt goes vacant, awarded to the interim champion"

​

 

[SamuraiBro]

 

[BigOlJeet]

Is 'bigoljeet' a reference to the shit Jon took in your cheerios? If so, this thread really makes sense.

Says Clark Rogers Temu version of Steve Rogers.