Interim heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall has been relentlessly pushing for. a title unification bout against champion Jon Jones for a year. Aspinall stepped into the UFC 295 co-main event last November when Jones was forced out of the originally planned main event bout against former two-time titleholder Stipe Miocic due to injury.
Instead, Aspinall faced Sergei Pavlovich with the interim title up for grabs and won via knockout in 69 seconds. He defended the interim belt instead of waiting for a title shot when the fight promotion decided to rebook the Jones and Miocic matchup, which headlines the UFC 309 fight card on Saturday.
Aspinall’s problem isn’t with Jones or Miocic, it’s with them fighting for the “undisputed” world title. No matter who wins at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, Aspinall’s interim title makes the winner’s championship under dispute.
“Big heavyweight title fight this weekend. A bit of a strange one because, in all honesty, who is really that interested in this fight being a title fight,” Aspinall said on his YouTube channel.
“I’ve never said anything bad about Jon Jones’ career, or Stipe’s career. And I never will. I respect what they’ve done in their careers – amazing careers,” Aspinall continued. “What I’ve got against this fight in particular is it’s contested for an undisputed heavyweight title… This is far from undisputed.
“This is the most disputed title that you could possibly get because there’s two champions. And one of the champions, Jon Jones, is avoiding the other champion, me.”
Related: Jon Jones: ‘Tom Aspinall is an a–hole and his fans are annoying’
The 31-year old Aspinall criticized the matchup between 42-year old Miocic and 37-year old Jones. He considers the fight to be more of a “legends” bout than a crowning on the best heavyweight in the world.
“Let’s be honest, these are two old farts fighting each other for a title and occupying it, which is a bit weird. Nobody that I can see gives a sh*t about this fight. It’s just like a weird situation,” said Aspinall. “This is a great legends matchup. This is a great resume matchup. This is a great potential retirement fight for one, if not both of these guys. But why is that for the heavyweight title when you’ve got active heavyweights taking out contenders, like me?”
Aspinall wasn’t vague with his remarks. He is convinced Jones is avoiding, or ‘ducking,’ fighting him.
“Jon Jones’ resume is far superior to mine, but he has what I deserve. And I want to go and prove that I’m the guy, and that’s the only way we can sort it,” Aspinall said. “I’m challenging him to a fight and I’m a little bit disappointed that Jon – and the great champion that he is – doesn’t want to give other guys the opportunity when someone is breathing down his neck.”
“This ducking and diving is something that I don’t really have respect for,” Aspinall continued. “And Jon, if you’re not into gambling your legacy, that to me sounds like you’re scared of losing against me.”
