Stipe Miocic sympathizes with Tom Aspinall’s situation but doesn’t take responsibility for slowing down the heavyweight division’s progress.
Miocic was originally scheduled to challenge Jon Jones for the heavyweight title at UFC 295 in November 2023, but “Bones” withdrew from the event due to injury. To save the card, an interim title fight between Aspinall and Sergey Pavlovic was arranged at the last minute, with Aspinall knocking out his Russian rival in the opening round.
With no timetable for Jones’ return, Aspinall initially called for the champion to be stripped of his title. Aspinall then called for a title unification bout with Jones, but “Bones” has remained adamant that he will fight Miocic upon his return. Both Miocic and Jones have hinted that they may retire after the bout, robbing Aspinall of the opportunity to challenge “Bones” for the title. Meanwhile, Aspinall is scheduled to defend his interim title against Curtis Blaydes in the co-main event of UFC 304 this weekend in Manchester.
UFC 304: Edwards vs. Muhammad, Saturday at 10pm ET on ESPN+. Order now! Miocic hasn’t fought in over three years and has been criticized in recent times for delaying his move up a weight class. Miocic explains that he understands Aspinall’s point of view, but his only request to UFC is to fight Jones when he is ready to return. However, Miocic points out that the decision on the fight is up to the UFC, not him.
“I understand, I feel the same way, but I’m not going to write him off,” Miocic told Shakiel Majli. “UFC can do what they want, that’s the reality. The only person I want to fight is Jon Jones, but at the same time, UFC can pick whoever they want. People don’t realize that there were a few times when I was ready to fight him and they gave it to someone else. What am I supposed to do? Like everyone says, I’m not going down a weight class. I don’t care. Do what you want and stop crying. I’m not saying he should cry, I’m just talking about the fans.”
