Perhaps Stipe Miocic won’t be riding off into the sunset following his heavyweight title fight against Jon Jones after all.
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.”
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.”
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.
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