UFC interim heavyweight champion, Tom Aspinall is exuding swagger from his most recent round 1 KO of his former foe, Curtis Blaydes. The 31-year-old Brit got his revenge in his first title defense, downing ‘The Razor’ with a thudding counter right and redeeming himself of the 2022 stoppage loss. Now, the gutsy Brit has come out with another revelation, claiming that he can take out both Jon Jones and Stipe Miočić in one night while he readies himself as the backup fighter.
In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports, the ‘Honey-badger’ dropped his thoughts on serving as the backup for Stipe vs Jon later this year, saying,
“I’m going to be the backup for the fight. If one of them pulls out, you better believe I’m in on an hour’s notice if I need to. I should be the undisputed heavyweight champion, everybody knows that now… I’m the best heavyweight in the world and I’ll wipe out both of them guys in one night if I need to.”
Tom Aspinall confirms that he will be the backup for Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic
“If one of them pulls out, you better believe I’m in. On an hours notice if I need to…
I’ll wipe out both of them guys in one night if I need to.”
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) August 2, 2024
Having absolute confidence in his skills, Aspinall believes that he is the best heavyweight in the world right now and neither Miocic nor Jones is stopping him from attaining the HW gold. In fact, Tom was quick to call out the champion following his UFC 304 win. However, Jones already has his hands full with the Miocic bout that will likely go down at MSG in November, meaning the Brit will have to wait a bit longer.
Well, while Aspinall is fine with waiting, he recently revealed that he would not accept an interim bout, and will only set foot in the octagon for an undisputed title fight.
Aspinall to wait for the undisputed title, says no to an interim fight
After claiming the interim belt in November of 2023 by defeating the Russian juggernaut, Sergei Pavlovich in round 1, Aspinall came right back after eight months to take on Blaydes. Although the British fighter has always been vocal about the undisputed title fight against champion, Jon Jones, the promotion gave him Curtis Blaydes whom he made quick work of to show his mettle.
During the same interview with Sky Sports, Aspinall mentioned that he had no interest in fighting in another interim HW title fight. Stating the obvious, he said,
“Yeah, mate, I’m fighting for the undisputed (UFC) heavyweight title next. And I’ll fight anybody for the undisputed title, but I’m not fighting for an interim again, mate, when the undisputed (title) is active than I would be a bit of an idiot…I’d rather not (wait until next summer to fight Jones) but if I’ve got no choice, I got no choice.”
In essence, Aspinall is done waiting and according to him, his next fight should ideally be an undisputed title fight against the champion, be it Jones or Miocic.
