Speculation around Tom Aspinall and his next opponent has stirred since he won the interim belt last year.
Many people believe that whilst Jon Jones is injured and unavailable, Stipe Miocic should fight Aspinall. Fans feel that he is undeserving of a title shot because the former heavyweight champion last fought in March 2021 and appears to be walking back into a title fight 3+ years on.
UFC 300 Possibilities for Tom Aspinall
Aspinall has had aspirations to get onto the UFC 300 card as it set to be one of the biggest cards of the year, however in some recent tweets and on his recent YouTube video he has hinted at a summer return as he is without an opponent for April 13th and the date is fast approaching.
” I thought they [UFC] were going to do me a fight on UFC 300, doesn’t look like that is going to happen, but we don’t know” Aspinall confirmed on his Youtube Channel.
Elite grapplers Curtis Blaydes and Jailton Almeida are fighting in a number one contender fight a month prior to UFC 300. Therefore it’s unlikely either of them will be fit or ready to make a swift turnaround for the interim belt. The only remaining name is Cyril Gane, last time out he successfully dispatched Serghei Spivac in Paris with a great performance. Aspinall was cage side for the event with a plan to fight the winner. At the time Gane seemed to be rather dismissive of Aspinall as he only had eyes for the belt, however now that there is some gold in Atherton the Frenchman seems keen to get involved. The exciting pair of ‘new generation’ heavyweights are destined to fight at some point in their careers and maybe on multiple occasions, UFC 300 could possibly be the first of a series but the event is rapidly approaching.
Miocic Says No
Tonight Tom Aspinall was tweeting about his potential title shot and next fight, he recently had a twitter spat with Jones but has accepted the fact the UFC are set on the Legend vs Legend fight. He mentioned that his manager had been contacted by the UFC about a potential fight with Miocic on April 13th at UFC 300 and that he had accepted the offer.
Unfortunately fans dreams were crushed as the follow up tweet confirmed Miocic had rejected the fight and has only got eyes set on returning to fight Jones for the full title.
It is not a great look for the organisation that Miocic would be stepping into a title fight on the back of a knockout loss and with over 3 years of inactivity particularly whilst there is an interim champion fit and ready to fight. However, this is the fight business and a legacy fight between two all time greats is enticing for Dana White even if both men are at the latter stage of their careers and a double retirement is likely after the fight concludes.
If Jones is to win then his already great legacy is solidified even further and vice versa or Miocic, but both men will always have the question mark on their resume as to why they didn’t stick around to face the new blood of the division. Jones beat Gane for the belt which was impressive but it was seen as the easiest of the new generation to beat. The all round skillset of the interim champion has many thinking he is capable of defeating the legendary Jones.
Who do you think Tom Aspinall should fight next?
