Jon Jones seems set to defend his UFC heavyweight title against former champion Stipe Miocic in November, but interim champion Tom Aspinall has claimed that Miocic may be injured ahead of the supposed fight.
The UFC heavyweight saga continues to harp on and seems to show no signs of letting up with the promotion still yet to officially announce that Jon Jones will take on Stipe Miocic.
Interim champion Tom Aspinall successfully defended his title at UFC 304 on July 27, knocking out Curtis Blaydes in the first round. Following the fight, the Brit continued to campaign for a unification fight against ‘Bones’, but to no avail.
Tom Aspinall claims Stipe Miocic may be injured ahead of supposed Jon Jones fight
Although the UFC still hasn’t announced an official date for Jones vs Miocic, the fight is rumored to take place in November at UFC 309.
Earlier this week on Michael Bisping’s BYM Podcast, Aspinall teased that he would be releasing a video this Thursday, stating that ‘it’s going off’. In the since-released YouTube video, Aspinall has claimed that he has heard Miocic could be injured ahead of the potential fight against Jones.
“As I said, these are just rumors at this point, there’s a lot of talk but there’s nothing announced yet, these are all rumors,” Aspinall said in a video on his YouTube channel regarding the Jones vs Miocic fight.
“I’m hearing rumors that Stipe is potentially injured, this is stuff that I’m hearing from (my) inner circle, Stipe I believe his birthday was yesterday actually I seen, he’s 42 years old the guy is gonna be injury prone,” Aspinall added.
Miocic is a fighter who doesn’t post much regarding his training, however, the 42-year-old does in fact have a subscription-based website where he posts behind-the-scenes training videos.
The Ohian hasn’t fought since he rematched Francis Ngannou in 2021, and he was brutally knocked out in the second round. Miocic doesn’t hold a win against a current UFC heavyweight, with his last win having come against Daniel Cormier in 2020.
Tom Aspinall makes a final request to Jon Jones
If Miocic is in fact injured and out of the fight against Jones, it is unclear whether the UFC will make the highly requested fight between Jones and Aspinall, and if Jones would even accept the change.
Earlier this Thursday, Jones posted a video to his social media of him throwing his mobile phone in a swimming pool, showing that he is drowning out the noise and criticism of him fighting Miocic.
With one last request to Jones, Aspinall has asked that if the fight between him and Miocic does take place, he hands him the undisputed title as he is leaving the cage. The 31-year-old will be front row and has confirmed with the UFC that he will be a backup for the potential fight.
“If that (fight) does happen, I’ll be there, I’ll be ready to jump in with either of you guys for the undisputed title if one of you is gonna pull out. But, if you successfully defend against Stipe in November, I will be there front row, I want you to hand me the undisputed title as you walk past me, please,” Aspinall politely requested.