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Interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is tired of taking a back seat to Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic, and he made his feelings clear on the matter in a recent interview.
Aspinall recently solidified his state as the interim champ with a knockout of Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in Manchester.
But with Jones, the reigning champ, on the shelf and looking to fight Miocic when he returns, Aspinall feels shoved aside.
“Of course, Jon Jones is not an idiot,” Aspinall said in interview with MMA Fighting. “Even though he might act like it sometimes. He’s not unintelligent. Stipe, one of the best heavyweights if not the best heavyweight of all time. Stipe’s also 43 years old, coming off a three-year layoff and his last fight was a knockout loss.
“Obviously, he’s going to want to take that fight before me because it’s easier. Way easier. Way, way, way easier. He knows that I’m the tougher fight for him.”
Miocic is one of the most accomplished heavyweights in UFC history. And Jones is the most accomplished fighter, regardless of weight, in UFC history. So it makes sense that the two would one to square off with one another.
But as Aspinall points out, he’s the far bigger threat to Jones’ crown.
Aspinall stopped short of calling Jones “scared” to fight him. But he wasn’t shy in pointing out that the 37-year-old, who is recovering from a torn pec, seems to be avoding him.
“I’m not going to say he’s scared because he isn’t,” Aspinall said. “But he’s smart in his approach and he’s going to fight Stipe before me every time.”
Will Aspinall ever get a shot at the GOAT?
“I have no idea,” he said. “I’d like to think he would but at this point is Jon Jones even fighting Stipe? We don’t know. We have no idea.
“Like I said, Jon Jones is a bit of an unusual guy. You don’t get what you see. He’s tricky, slimy, snaky, he does different movements. He says one thing, does another. So I don’t know. I have no idea to be honest.”