Tom Aspinall’s relentless pursuit of Jon Jones has not yielded him any positive results so far. Despite his performances in the octagon, he has been sidelined for Stipe Miocic who Dana White feels is the only worthy challenger for Jones. Since his performances inside the octagon have not done the trick so far, Aspinall is now using another strategy to try and convince White that he deserves the title shot more than Miocic.
Over the past few months, White has been weirdly insistent on defending Jones’ status as the pound-for-pound king despite being inactive for over a year.
And in the process, the UFC President has managed to take shots at Aspinall. When fans have told him that the Brit deserved the shot at the undisputed UFC heavyweight title, White has simply said that Aspinall doesn’t deserve anything.
Now that’s a bit weird considering Aspinall not only won the interim title in Jones’ prolonged absence from the division, he has also defended it successfully and with some credibility!
So White’s words obviously haven’t been taken kindly by the Briton who has promised to clap back at the UFC president and tell him exactly why he deserves the fight.
“We want the Jon Jones fight around here, we’re trying to make it happen. Apparently according to Mr. Dana White, is saying that Jon Jones is the pound-for-pound number one. How do I feel about that? You’re going to find out this week.”
Tom Aspinall reacts to Dana White saying Jon Jones is the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world
He says he’ll be dropping a video later this week clapping back at Dana White and Jon Jones
YT / @AspinallMMA #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/5SONDEXwM6
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) August 18, 2024
According to the current pound-for-pound rankings, lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is number one followed by light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. Jones has slipped to the third position which has made it weirdly personal for White.
He bashed journalists for their MMA knowledge and said that there were no circumstances under which Jones was not the pound-for-pound king. White has always been complimentary of Jones but his recent obsession with the heavyweight champion has fans and pundits perplexed.
White on why he prefers Miocic over Aspinall
Given his recent performances, UFC fans have quickly changed their minds about Aspinall’s chances against Jones. The fight between Jones and Aspinall is arguably something that fans want more than Miocic. Miocic, after all is 41 years old and hasn’t fought in 3 years and fans are afraid he’s been fed to a returning Jones to cement the latter’s legacy.
Aspinall, of course, in the meantime, has been finishing entire fights in under 2-3 minutes, not just making lightwork of his opponents but also has been selling tickets with his name on it. He’s developed a dedicated fan base that wants to see him succeed given that he’s the future of the heavyweight division.
However, White has been steadfast in his commitment to the former champion. In a recent interview he explained why he is still leaning towards giving Miocic the title shot instead of Aspinall.
He has stated that Miocic was supposed to fight Jones anyway before the champion had pulled out of the fight. The 55-year-old also stated that Miocic has paid his dues and has been here forever and therefore he will not be changing his mind about a Jones vs Miocic fight.
