Michael Bisping insists Jon Jones must be STRIPPED of heavyweight title if he refuses to face Tom Aspinall after UFC 309 – however Bones stays adamant he’ll NOT face the interim champion
- Jon Jones will defend his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309
- Aspinall is the top contender in the division after his win in Manchester in July
- Jones has revealed his preferred opponent if he gets past Miocic this month
UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones has insisted that he will not fight Tom Aspinall after Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 despite calls from Dana White and former champion Michael Bisping among others.
Jones and Miocic were originally scheduled to face off for the heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 295 last November.
However, Jones suffered a torn pectoral muscle, with the UFC deciding to postpone the fight entirely instead of having backup fighter Sergei Pavlovich step in against Miocic.
Jones is the heavy favourite for the clash, leading attention to turn to who he could face in the likely event of victory. At the front of the queue is interim champion, England’s Aspinall, who defended his belt against Curtis Blaydes in front of a baying Manchester crowd in July to cement his place as the top contender in the division.
But despite calls from senior voices in the sport, including UFC president White and Bisping, Jones remains adamant that he’ll face a different opponent.
Jon Jones remains adamant that he will not fight Tom Spinall if he defends his heavyweight title at UFC 309
Aspinall defended his belt against Curtis Blaydes in front of a baying Manchester crowd in July to cement his place as the top contender in the division
Former UFC champion Michael Bisping believes that Jones should be stripped of his title if he refuses to face Aspinall
Former UFC champion Bisping said: ‘When he fights Stipe Miocic and if he is victorious, then he has to face Tom Aspinall next. If he doesn’t, this is, in the words of Khabib Nurmagomedov, number one bulls**t.
‘And if he refuses to fight Tom Aspinall next, then we’re gonna start having a serious conversation as to whether or not this man should be stripped.’
Earlier Jones had made it clear that he has no intention of fighting the Englishman in an interview with Kevin Iole.
‘More than likely not,’ the 37-year-old said when asked if he’d defend his title against Aspinall. ‘I don’t want to say he’s a nobody but he just hasn’t proven anything.
‘I’m not here for someone to gamble making a name off of me. I’m here to compete against the guys that when we look back 10 years from now people will say ” Jon Jones fought this guy and that legend”.’
The American went on to state that his preference would be a fight against light heavyweight king Alex Pereira.
Jones is already widely hailed as one of the greatest fighters of all time based on his light heavyweight run, which saw him defend his UFC championship 11 times, only losing titles due to outside-of-the-cage issues including a 2015 hit-and-run conviction and a failed drug test in 2016.
