Dana White still maintains that a Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic bout should happen in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Jones was originally scheduled to defend his undefeated heavyweight title against Miocic at UFC 295 in November 2023 but pulled out due to injury. Tom Aspinall knocked out Sergey Pavlovic in a hastily arranged interim title fight to save the card.
There is still no definitive timeline for Jones’ return to the Octagon, but “Bones” has not been stripped of his title. Meanwhile, Jones remains adamant that he will face Stipe Miocic in his return fight, after a three-year absence. The bout is rumored to take place in November, but there has been no official announcement at this time.
Not only does the UFC CEO continue to fervently defend the matchup, he is also clearly upset that Jones lost his title as the UFC pound-for-pound king through inactivity. UFC rankings are determined by a vote of media members, and White said media members are proving their ignorance by not ranking Jones number one on the P4P list.
“Jon Jones is ranked No. 3 pound-for-pound in the world. The most ridiculous, embarrassing, stupid, bullshit ranking in history that knows nothing about combat sports rankings,” White recently told Kevin Iole. “Jon Jones is still an active fighter. He beat Ciryl Gane. He got injured. He was supposed to fight, but he’ll fight again in November. Jon Jones is the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world. That’s it. End of story. It’s up to you if you want to blame Islam or not.” [Makhachev or Alex] “It doesn’t matter if Pereira is second or third. If there’s anyone higher than Jon Jones right now, it shows you know absolutely nothing about martial arts or fighting.”
Aspinall defended his interim title with a first-round knockout against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in Manchester last month. While White credited Aspinall’s achievements, the UFC CEO doesn’t think “Honey Badger” performed as well as Jones or Miocic, but White says the winner of that bout will undoubtedly owe Aspinall the opportunity.
“This is not being given enough credit. [Aspinall]
“What he did to Curtis Blaydes, the way he did it, the speed, there’s no question the guy is a scary guy. He’s the future of the heavyweight division,” White said. “But at the same time, he’s worked hard and he’s worked his way up the ladder, and everybody says, ‘He deserves this, he deserves that.’ He deserves nothing.”
“He’s a great fighter. He’s going to be the main guy. Stipe and John have worked so hard, they’ve been here so long, they’ve fought anybody, they’ve fought every fight they can. Those two are worth fighting. Whoever wins, I think they owe it to Aspinall to fight him and give him the opportunity he’s given.”
