UFC CEO Dana White was pretty certain that he would be able to make Jon Jones fight Tom Aspinall. This saga went on for over a year, but nothing materialized. Fans wanted to see that epic heavyweight clash, as the division seems to be struggling with a lack of big stars, but it didn’t happen. And guess what? The blame was placed solely on the former 2-weight champion. However, middleweight star Michael ‘Venom’ Page claims that the fans are pointing their fingers at the wrong person.
The UFC’s heavyweight division is somewhat of a shambolic mess. While Tom Aspinall has been making waves, people believe that there isn’t any fighter in the division who can give him a run for his money. That’s where Jon Jones comes in, as it presented Dana White a chance to set up a heavyweight superfight, which the whole community was waiting for, but the UFC CEO missed out on it.
After Jon Jones’ UFC 309 fight, not only the fans, but many former fighters and pundits also called out Jon Jones for apparently holding up the heavyweight division. Even Tom Aspinall decided not to pursue a fight that may never come to fruition. But Michael ‘Venom’ Page claims that the now-heavyweight champion should have gotten that fight at UFC 309, claiming that Dana White and Co. pushed for the fight against 40-plus-year-old Stipe Miocic, which didn’t make sense to him.
“The fight against Jon Jones, and who was it that they had him fight after four years. I don’t think actually that should have even happened… [against] Stipe,” Michael ‘Venom’ Page told ‘Fred Talks Fighting’. “I feel like if that’s the fight that he was going for, Tom Aspinall deserved that fight, and it was the UFC that backed the fight against Stipe.”
The former Bellator star also claimed that there is absolutely no one holding the UFC back because if they wanted to make something happen, they would have. Michael ‘Venom’ Page believes there is no one to blame but Dana White and Co. for choosing to go in a different direction with Jon Jones rather than setting him up with Tom Aspinall. For him, it’s not ‘Bones’s fault, and hence, the English star urged the fight community to pay their respects to the consensus GOAT for the things he’s achieved inside the eight-sided cage.
“If they decided that they didn’t want that fight to happen, that fight wouldn’t have happened. So, we can’t put sole blame on Jon Jones,” ‘Venom’ further stated. “This guy has had a crazy career, a career that most MMA fighters would beg to try and achieve. We have to give him his flowers.”
May 4, 2023, Newark, NJ, NEWARK, NJ, United States: Newark NJ – May 4: Dana White speaks to the press and the fans at UFC288 – Sterling vs Cejudo – press conference, PK, Pressekonferenz at Prudential Center on May 4, 2023 in Newark, NJ Newark, NJ United States – ZUMAp175 20230504_zsa_p175_038 Copyright: xLouisxGrassex
Michael ‘Venom’ Page may not be wrong in claiming that Jon Jones did not necessarily ‘duck’ Tom Aspinall. Why? Well, the former 2-weight champion recently mentioned his next plan, which could see him end up sharing the Octagon with the English star.
Jon Jones could end up fighting Tom Aspinall at the White House
When Donald Trump announced that the White House would host a UFC event in 2026 as part of the America250 celebrations, almost every fighter wanted to be on that card. Conor McGregor expressed his wish to make his impending comeback, and even Jon Jones. The Albuquerque native believes that the White House event could be one for the ages, as he’s planning to fight whoever wins the main event of UFC 321, as Tom Aspinall will be defending his title against Ciryl Gane.
“I can’t promise anyone anything, but I have a very strong feeling that I’ll be on that card. I think it’s going to be historic. It will be as big as the ‘Thrilla in Manila’ or ‘The Rumble in the Jungle’; it’s up there with that,” Jon Jones said last month during an interview. “Essentially, it could be bigger than that. I would want to take on whoever is holding the belt at the end of the year.”
Coming back to Dana White, the UFC CEO has come under fire for certain decisions in the past that fans weren’t necessarily on board with. But do you think, just like Michael ‘Venom’ Page, that he’s the one to blame for the fight between Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall never coming to fruition? Let us know in the comments section down below.
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