Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic are scheduled to face each other this Saturday for the UFC heavyweight title. The fight is set to be one for the books, and UFC CEO Dana White says Jones should fight Tom Aspinall next.
The Englishman has constantly been on Jones’s neck since the heavyweight champ got back into the cage. Aspinall is currently the interim champion, and he believes that the heavyweight champion should fight him instead. Jones has rejected this offer many times, and Dana Whote thinks the fight is imminent if Jones decides to rescind his retirement plan and remain in the cage.
At a pre-fight press conference, Dana White spoke about the bout between Jone and Miocic and declared that the winner would have to face Aspinall. The CEO said this after Jones repeatedly shut down a fight with Aspinall and even stated he would like to battle Alex Pereira instead.
“He’s not fighting Pereira,” White told Jim Rome when asked about Jones’ plans for the future. “[Pereira] was a middleweight that moved up to light heavyweight. He’s also a kickboxer who has done very, very well in MMA. His wrestling isn’t even near the level of Jon Jones, and Jon Jones is way bigger than him.
“If Jon Jones wants to fight again after Saturday night, he will fight Tom Aspinall.”
Tom Aspinall snagged the interim heavyweight title while Jones was out due to a torn pectoral muscle. Since then, the fighter has defended his title against Curtis Blaydes in July and is now looking for a fight with Jones. The Englishman has been quite persistent with his callout, and the pressure has finally caught up to Dana White.
“Jon’s weird in how he deals with this type of stuff,” White said. “Like he’ll show up for a fight like this, he’ll be prepared mentally, physically, and everything else, and then when the fight’s over, he sort of goes and disappears, and he wants to challenge himself again, and Tom Aspinall is there. He’s doing the whole ‘he doesn’t deserve it’ … but Jon, when he was 23 years old and he became the youngest champion ever. Somebody gave him the opportunity for greatness. I think Jon will eventually come back and face Tom Aspinall.
“But if he decides Saturday night that’s it, it’s over, it’s his right to make that decision. What this guy has accomplished, nobody else has even come close to accomplishing and he’s the greatest of all time. So we’ll see.”
White believes the top pound-4-pound fighter isn’t trying to duck Aspinall. However, he reiterates that if Jones refuses to call it a career, then he’d have to face Aspinall in his next bout.
“For anybody to say he’s ducking anybody, Jon Jones is like 37, 38 years old, he’s fought everybody,” White said. “He’s fought all the best in the world, in their prime, been doing it since he was 23 years old. He doesn’t duck. And he’s undefeated, he’s never lost a fight, which is unbelievable in like 16 years.”
“That is classic Jon Jones right there. Classic Jon Jones,” White said. “Jon will do what he does on Saturday. If he wins, he’ll disappear for a while, and then that competitive spirit will start bubbling up again, and then money will talk. If he doesn’t decide to retire, he absolutely, positively fights Aspinall.
The pressure on Jones intensifies as it seems everyone is on Aspinall’s side. As it is, the heavyweight champion only has two options: retire after his fight with Miocic or face Tom Aspinall and dispel all accusations.
