“I think Jon Jones should be stripped of the title, to be honest. Everyone else loses their belt when they get injured like that. I don’t get why he’s still holding onto it. And I just don’t understand. I think I should be the real champion right now.” That’s what Tom Aspinall told Michael Bisping without sugarcoating on the topic of his unification bout against Jon Jones. This statement came back in November 2023 when ‘Bones’ was out recovering from his torn pectoral muscle. For the unversed, Jones was originally scheduled to face Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 for his first heavyweight title defense.
While the GOAT contender was on the sidelines, Aspinall went out and sparked Sergei Pavlovich at the same event to claim the interim heavyweight title. The Englishman knew what he did wasn’t just some temporary belt situation. Deep down, it gave him that real titleholder feeling. Next, the British juggernaut steamrolled Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304—right in front of a wild home crowd in Manchester. And this is where his barrage of calling Jones out began. “Hello Jon, I have nothing against you personally, but I just think I’m better than you. I just know that I can beat you in a fight, so I am coming for it.” Aspinall said to Daniel Cormier during the post-fight interview.
And ever since, Jones has been accused of ‘ducking’ the much younger and athletic Aspinall, who has held that interim gold for over 500 days, with the date for a unification bout still not confirmed. The Brit even claimed that his victory against Blaydes should be considered a legitimate title defense. “I don’t know. I’m not sure. But I think I should have one because it was a legit title defense, but it was for an interim title, and it becomes a bit weird. So these are the questions I’m going to be asking the UFC.” Aspinall told ‘The Schmo’ in March. However, verbose analyst Chael Sonnen has laid out why the Englishman’s interim title doesn’t exactly hold up.
According to ‘The Bad Guy,’ the moment Jones stepped into the Octagon to face Stipe Miocic at UFC 309, the interim belt would’ve been void by definition. Now there’s also buzz about stripping someone if the unification bout keeps stalling. Still, Sonnen argued it’s not that simple. He shared a clip on Instagram and explained:
“You cannot have an interim champion in the presence of the champion. And this is per the dictionary, these aren’t Chael’s rules! You can go and look up the word interim up. The interim champ can only exist in the absence of a champion. Meaning the moment when the bell rang, for that would’ve been Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic. That, by definition, would’ve stripped Tom Aspinall of his interim championship. And that never happened. There’s now a discussion that one of them will be stripped, if the unification bout doesn’t come to a head.”
He added, “The problem is you can’t strip the interim champion, because by definition, he no longer exists. I asked Tom Aspinall that question flat out. This was after Jon got done defeating Stipe, ‘Tom, have they talked about your interim championship? And Tom said, ‘Chael, the only one I’ve ever heard say that I’m no longer interim champion is you!’ But, if you were to look at the rules, history books matter, and that’s why you come to old Chael, because old Chael pays attention to details, cause I know for you these things matter.”
Good point by Chael—again! For the unversed, under UFC rules, a division can’t have both an interim champ and a reigning champ at the same time for long. The interim title only exists when the main champ is out due to injury, illness, or something else holding them back. Once the reigning champ returns and agrees to fight, the interim belt kind of dissolves by default. So, ‘The Bad Guy’ is saying you can’t strip an interim champ if that belt technically doesn’t exist anymore. If something falls apart, Jones has to be the one getting stripped of his title.
As things remain unclear around the biggest heavyweight showdown, we’ve had a few signs that the fight might finally be getting closer. At one point, UFC head honcho Dana White was pretty vocal, saying Aspinall would be next after Jones wraps up business with Miocic. Now, the Brit has stepped in again, dropping another message that, without saying too much, kind of hints he knows something’s brewing behind the scenes.
Tom Aspinall hints at his upcoming return for the heavyweight gold
It’s been nearly a year since the biggest dog in the heavyweight division, Jon Jones, last stepped inside the Octagon. And while the clock keeps ticking, Tom Aspinall is still out here patiently waiting for the biggest fight of his career—a potential clash with Jones that fans have been dreaming about for months. Now, the Brit has dropped a little something for those eager to see him back in action. A bit of good news, finally. Is it the superfight against Jon Jones? Well, not confirmed just yet. But something’s cooking, and it sounds like his return isn’t far off.
TNT Sports shared a clip on X where Aspinall teased fans with some exciting news. “I know everyone wants fight news, but I do know what’s happening,” he said. “I have been sworn to secrecy for a little bit, so stay tuned… But there will be news coming. Hopefully very soon.” As always, we’re all just waiting for that ultimate confirmation.
The question remains—when Aspinall steps back inside the cage, will it be against Jon Jones? Or is there a chance he might face someone else while Jones takes his time making his return? Please comment your thoughts below.
The post UFC Insider Proves Tom Aspinall Wrong in Verdict on Jon Jones Being ‘Stripped’ of Title for Refusing Fight appeared first on EssentiallySports.
