‘They’re holding the belt hostage’ – Tom Aspinall takes aim at Jon Jones and Dana White as he demands heavyweight unification fight
Tom Aspinall’s patience is already wearing thin as he waits on the sidelines for a heavyweight unification fight.
The interim champion is fresh off a sensational 60-second knockout win over top contender Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in Manchester on July 27.
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Aspinall has no interest in defending his secondary belt again.
Jon Jones, who holds the true UFC heavyweight title, will put it on the line when he squares off with former two-time champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 on November 9.
The Englishman has already confirmed he will play a backup role for the fight, but he feels that he should be the one fighting Jones next, not Miocic.
At 42 years old, the part-time firefighter is well past his prime.
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It’s been more than three years since he last got into the Octagon, and on that occasion, he got brutally knocked out by the UFC’s biggest-ever puncher, Francis Ngannou.
“The way I look at it, I’m the best heavyweight in the world,” Aspinall said on the podcast with Michael Bisping and Anthony Smith.
“I’m not getting my credit for it. They’re holding the belt hostage and Jon Jones is loving it. He’s loving the fact that Dana is getting on every interview possible [bigging him up].
“You’re talking about bantamweights, and Dana White flips it and starts talking about how good Jon Jones is.
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“I’m like, 'If he’s that good, let’s fight.’ I’m the No. 1 heavyweight right now. Let’s put it on the line, and let’s see who the man is – me or Jon.
Aspinall believes Jones is hoping someone will do him a favour by beating the British MMA star, so he doesn’t have to – but he’s adamant that will not happen.
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Aspinall added: “Jon Jones, he was praying that I would lose that fight against Curtis Blaydes, praying that I would because there’s no way that you find publicly, nowhere, him saying that he would fight me.”
“It doesn’t exist. I challenge everyone watching this interview to find a statement, a quote, a video where Jon Jones is saying that he’ll fight me after he fights Stipe. It doesn’t exist. The guy is smart.”
“We know he’s a bit overweight these days. The guy sat there with the Cheetos fingers or whatever, the Doritos fingers with his iPhone in his hand, waiting for me to get knocked out so he can start tweeting about it.
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“Since I won that fight, he’s been completely silent and continues to go completely quiet about me because there’s no way on earth that he’s going to fight me.
“I’ll retire Jon Jones without even fighting him.”
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