Tom Aspinall is in a tough spot. Aspinall fights a familiar foe, Curtis Blaydes, on Saturday but the circumstances are especially rare. Aspinall defends his interim UFC heavyweight championship at UFC 304 in Manchester, only the fourth time in the promotion's 31-year history that an interim title will be defended.
The natural progression for an interim champion is to unify the belts to crown an undisputed champ. That would mean booking Jon Jones vs. Aspinall, but meritocratic duties are only one factor in the box office business of prizefighting. UFC president Dana White is determined to book Jones vs. Stipe Miocic. The fight was originally scheduled for UFC 295 in November 2023, before Jones suffered an injury. Instead of booking Miocic against a replacement opponent, UFC removed him from the card and booked Aspinall vs. Sergei Pavlovich for the interim title. It was an effort to preserve Jones vs. Miocic, rumored for this November, while keeping a heavyweight title on the UFC 295 poster. Now, Aspinall finds himself pushed aside despite earning an undisputed title shot.
CBS Sports picked the brains of current and former UFC champions and title challengers to debate whether Aspinall is getting the short end of the stick in this heavyweight debacle.
Michael Bisping (former UFC middleweight champion): "The reason why the interim title as an opportunity came up was because Jon vs. Stipe was postponed because of an injury. That is a sad reality in mixed martial arts. You can be frustrated with the situation, but fighters get injured all the time, so they postponed the fight. So to make up for it, to add to the razzle-dazzle, they made an interim title because Jon was going to be out for a while. Had that have not happened, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Tom wouldn't be the interim champion right now. I'm the biggest fan of Tom Aspinall. I'm always singing his praises and I always talk about how great he is, the potential he has and the career that I think he will have. However, that's just the reality of the situation. He wouldn't be the interim champion right now had Jon not gotten, injured, so therefore you can't be mad at that."
Injuries happen and fights fall through often but they aren't always rebooked. Jones vs. Miocic is a dream match between the promotion's most successful light heavyweight and heavyweight champions, respectively, but it is past its sell-by date. The commitment to booking Jones vs. Miocic impedes Aspinall's right to challenge for the undisputed title. Faced with the decision to sit out or stay active, Aspinall opted to accept an interim title defense against Blaydes in Manchester, joining Andrei Arlovski, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Renan Barao as the only interim champs to stake their titles. Some would advise patience from Aspinall, a path he was initially keen on, but patience doesn't pay the bills.
Blaydes (interim UFC heavyweight title challenger): "This doesn't happen often. At least you're still getting paid. You have to be happy about that. You're getting a fight, you're getting an opportunity to make some money. Who knows? If you just wanted to wait, it could be a long wait without making a paycheck."
Raquel Pennington (reigning UFC women's bantamweight champion): "When you get to a certain position in your career and you deserve that next opportunity, at the end of the day, it comes down to business. UFC does really well at the business aspect of everything and giving the fans what they want to see. But as an athlete who worked so hard for so many years and deserves the opportunity, it's extremely frustrating for any athlete in that situation. I've been in that situation multiple times. My heart goes out to them because everybody deserves that opportunity when they've worked super hard."
It's unclear how much UFC is catering to fans in this instance. One camp might argue that Jones vs. Miocic is the bigger mainstream draw while others are more intrigued by Aspinall, dubbed the future of heavyweight, giving MMA's all-time greatest a run for his money.
Chris Weidman (former UFC middleweight champion): "I feel for Tom because he is so damn good. But it's a tough time when you have two GOATs of the game in one weight class. They're older and want to fight each other. They'd rather not take the risk against a guy Aspinall when they can make so much money against each other and it means so much for the sport. Aspinall has to bite the bullet on that one."
UFC wields the lion's share of the power here. It's up to the promotion to decide which fights to offer its athletes. But Jones and Miocic haven't campaigned for the Aspinall fight either, despite the interim champ vocally advocating for himself. Jones has even proposed a fight with UFC light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira while downplaying Aspinall's right. Jones and Miocic are deadset on fighting each other and there are suspicions that retirement is on the table for both men.
Miocic (former UFC heavyweight champion): "I get it. I'd feel the same way but I'm not taking anything away from him. The UFC can do what they want. It is what it is. There's only one guy I want to fight, it's Jon Jones. But at the same time, the UFC can pick who they want... What am I supposed to do? I'm not holding up the division like everyone says. I don't care. Do what you want and stop crying. I'm not saying he's crying. I'm just saying like fans and stuff like that."
Aspinall's predicament is particularly unique. The UFC has a history of giving less exciting or marketable fighters a longer road to a UFC title. Take Belal Muhammad, who challenges Leon Edwards for the UFC welterweight title in Saturday's main event.
Muhammad is on a 10-fight undefeated streak accrued over five years and ranked No. 2 in the UFC's official rankings -- behind only Kamaru Usman who Edwards beat in consecutive title fights -- but he's mostly known as a decision fighter. UFC reportedly offered Edwards fights against lightweight champ Islam Makhachev, No.3 ranked welterweight Shavkat Rakmonov, and Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 300 without seriously considering Muhammad. The Chimaev offer is particularly bizarre, considering he's ranked No. 11 at middleweight and unranked at 170 pounds after badly missing the welterweight mark for a scheduled fight with Nate Diaz in September 2022.
Aspinall doesn't fit the boring build. He's in his athletic prime, somewhat charismatic, and caters to an important U.K. demographic. Aspinall's UFC records are remarkable. He has the shortest average fight time (2:10) and the largest strike differential (4.95) in UFC history. Aspinall also broke Ronda Rousey's record for the shortest time to achieve five UFC victories. Aspinall has plenty of upside, but UFC sees more value in Jones and Miocic's collective drawing power.
Muhammad (UFC welterweight title challenger): "It sucks for him because Jon Jones is the biggest fight in the division. Aspinall has to go through Killers Row. He beat Pavlovich who everybody thought would be the next biggest thing. Now Curtis Blaydes, I think people are doubting him, but Curtis is so good. He's not an easy fight for anybody... You never even know if you will get that red panty night with Jon Jones, if that fight ever happens. So it sucks but I think a lot of people already respect him and put him as the heavyweight champ now. A lot of people are already saying that Aspinall is the best in division."
There is no questioning Jones and Miocic's accomplishments. They are two of the best and in Jones' case, arguably the single greatest MMA fighter ever. While Jones is the reigning heavyweight champ, there is a growing sentiment that Aspinall is the present and future of the division. A win over Blaydes strengthens Aspinall's claim, but it feels increasingly unlikely he'll add either legend's name to his resume. It would be a great shame if Aspinall never fights the Jones vs. Miocic winner, but it only delays Aspinall's timeline to becoming the all-time great heavyweight many predict he will be.
Frankie Edgar (former UFC lightweight champion): "It's got to be frustrating for Tom. I think he's the future of the heavyweight division. He might have the fastest hands I've ever seen out of heavyweight. He's very well-rounded. I am very impressed by him. But I do understand that you got the greatest heavyweight of all time in Stipe and the greatest fighter of all time, [Jones]. We got to see that one before it all goes away."
