Dana White has hinted at Tom Aspinall defending his interim UFC heavyweight title earlier than an final shot in opposition to the winner of Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic for the undisputed belt on the finish of 2024.
The UFC supremo dominated out the Wigan fighter taking over Miocic, who will as a substitute wait to face Jones as soon as his pectoral damage has healed.
Jones suffered the damage forward of UFC 295 and his headline match with Miocic, which in the end fell by means of after tearing a tendon whereas wrestling in coaching.
With Miocic not open to preventing one other rival, the UFC scrambled to repackage the cardboard and Aspinall produced a sensational efficiency in a first-round destruction of Sergei Pavlovich to grab the interim title.
But with Jones now on the sidelines for eight months since November and a return not anticipated till at the least the top of the summer time subsequent 12 months, Aspinall is keen to keep away from rust by means of inactivity and White has now conceded one other interim title struggle is on the playing cards for 2024.
“No,” White informed TNT Sports when requested if Aspinall may face Miocic. “And we’re not stripping Jon Jones, either, he’s the greatest mixed martial artist of all time.
“You’re a young guy, you were injured there for a while. You’ll get your shot, just wait, this fight has to happen and then we’ll figure out what’s next for you.
“I don’t know if Jon is going to be out for a long time. Aspinall could fight again, we’ll see how this plays out.
“Jones and Stipe, the fight, they both deserve it. Jon got injured, there’s nothing he can do about it. We’ll see what happens in 2024. If Aspinall wants to fight before that happens, why not, why not let him defend it.
“That [an interim title defence against Miocic] ain’t happening.”
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Source: www.unbiased.co.uk