Perhaps Stipe
Miocic won’t be riding off into the sunset following his
heavyweight title fight against Jon Jones
after all.
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The ex-UFC champion responded to a series of posts from current
interim king Tom
Aspinall on social media by suggesting that he’d be willing to
face the Englishman in a title unification bout down the road.
That, of course, would only become a viable option should Miocic
defeat Jones when they square off at some point in 2024. The date
for the bout is currently unknown, as Jones is still recovering
from a torn pectoral that forced him to withdraw from the UFC 295
main event against Miocic.
“I have never caused a delay in the Jon fight,” Miocic wrote in
response to Aspinall. “Tom, once I get this win, let’s talk to
unify the belt.”
I have never caused a delay in the Jon
fight.⁰⁰Tom, once I get this win, let’s talk to unify the belt.— Stipe Miocic (@stipemiocic)
January 5, 2024
In recent weeks, Aspinall hasn’t been shy about sharing his
frustrations with the UFC’s decision to wait to rebook Jones vs.
Miocic. Aspinall claimed the interim crown with a 69-second
knockout of Sergei
Pavlovich at UFC 295 and in most cases, would be next in line
to face the reigning heavyweight king. He notably
called for Jones to be stripped of the heavyweight crown after
“Bones” suffered his injury. Miocic’s lack of activity in recent
years has also been a target for Aspinall.
“Stipe is one of my [favorites]. Loads of respect to him. His
resume is far superior to mine [right now],” Aspinall recently
wrote in a series of posts on X. “That being said the UFC has never
been about this. It’s about who’s the best right now, and I believe
that’s me and it’s only right I get to prove it.
“Surely if you’re interim champ, your next fight should be to fight
for the undisputed. Come on.”
Stipe is one of my favourites. Loads of
respect to him his Résumé is far superior to mine rn. That being
said the UFC has never been about this. It’s about who’s the best
right now, and I believe that’s me and it’s only right I get to
prove it
#freeaspinall— Tom Aspinall (@AspinallMMA)
January 4, 2024
Surely if you’re interim champ, your next
fight should be to fight for undisputed? Come on— Tom Aspinall (@AspinallMMA)
January 4, 2024
It has long been rumored that both Miocic and Jones could both
retire after what has been referred to as a legacy fight. However,
Miocic’s recent comments indicate that the Ohio-based firefighter
isn’t ready to call it a career if things go his way. Miocic hasn’t
competed since relinquishing the heavyweight belt to Francis
Ngannou at UFC 260 in March 2021.