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Daniel Cormier believes Tom Aspinall should be the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion.
Aspinall recently defeated Sergei Pavlovich to claim the interim heavyweight title in the co-main event of UFC 295. Originally, the event was supposed to be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic, but a pectoral injury forced Jones out of the fight, leading the UFC to table that bout until next year and create the interim title instead. But with Jones out for several months for recovery, it’s unclear when Jones will defend his title against Miocic, and as such, Cormier believes the UFC should have Jones vacate the title.
“I believe that this fight — before Sergei lost — was for the undisputed title, because Jones and Stipe are only going to fight each other,” Cormier said recently on The MMA Hour. “You cannot have Tom Aspinall defend the interim championship. Because Jones and Stipe don’t need the title to be on the line, they can just fight and that’s enough. Call it for the Greatest of All Time. It doesn’t matter, create a belt.
“Tom Aspinall is the guy that’s going to lead the heavyweight division for years to come, so yes, I believe that he should be the undisputed champ. Jones is the undisputed champion. He earned that in the octagon by beating Ciryl Gane. But if he’s only going to fight Stipe, and that’s not for another, what, eight months, seven months? I think you put Tom Aspinall as the champ and I don’t think anyone would bat an eyelid.”
Widely considered to be one of the greatest fighters of all-time, Jones claimed the vacant heavyweight title by beating Ciryl Gane in March, after previous heavyweight Francis Ngannou departed the UFC in free agency. Given that, and they fact that Jones has only fought once at heavyweight, some have suggested that Jones’ claim as heavyweight champion is suspect to begin with. But that is a bridge too far for Cormier.
“I would have loved to see him and Francis fight,” Cormier said. “Francis was the undisputed heavyweight champion, but then Francis left. You can only fight the people in front of you. Because if I say that Jones isn’t undisputed because he didn’t beat Francis, how in the world could I ever call myself the champion of the world when I never beat Jones? And if I’m not the champion of the world back then, I’m never the double champion, because I never held the light heavyweight championship. And if I didn’t hold the light heavyweight championship, I never would have gotten the opportunity to fight for the heavyweight championship.
“You fight who is available. ... So yeah, Jones is the undisputed champ even though he never fought Ngannou.”
For what it’s worth, Aspinall agrees with Cormier, saying Jones should be stripped of the title in light of his injury and that he will happily fight Miocic while Jones recovers. The UFC, however, seems disinclined to pursue this avenue of fight booking, meaning that Jones will defend against Miocic sometime in 2024, and when that happens, Cormier has some concerns about the matchup.
“That’s one of my worries with Miocic in the Jones fight: He’s already 41,” Cormier said.
“It’s a whole other eight months, and you feel it when you start to get into your 40s in terms of training. Things start to slip. You’re not as good as you were. You can’t go to that next level. That’s one of those things I always could do. The only guy in the training room that could go to that next level with me was Cain [Velasquez]. The only guy that could go to that next level with me in the octagon was Jones. I could always go to another level, and then when I got older, I could feel myself — I couldn’t just take it to that next level anymore. My body wouldn’t allow. My [mind] wanted to do it, but I just didn’t have that gear anymore, that extra gear.”
Aspinall recently defeated Sergei Pavlovich to claim the interim heavyweight title in the co-main event of UFC 295. Originally, the event was supposed to be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic, but a pectoral injury forced Jones out of the fight, leading the UFC to table that bout until next year and create the interim title instead. But with Jones out for several months for recovery, it’s unclear when Jones will defend his title against Miocic, and as such, Cormier believes the UFC should have Jones vacate the title.
“I believe that this fight — before Sergei lost — was for the undisputed title, because Jones and Stipe are only going to fight each other,” Cormier said recently on The MMA Hour. “You cannot have Tom Aspinall defend the interim championship. Because Jones and Stipe don’t need the title to be on the line, they can just fight and that’s enough. Call it for the Greatest of All Time. It doesn’t matter, create a belt.
“Tom Aspinall is the guy that’s going to lead the heavyweight division for years to come, so yes, I believe that he should be the undisputed champ. Jones is the undisputed champion. He earned that in the octagon by beating Ciryl Gane. But if he’s only going to fight Stipe, and that’s not for another, what, eight months, seven months? I think you put Tom Aspinall as the champ and I don’t think anyone would bat an eyelid.”
Widely considered to be one of the greatest fighters of all-time, Jones claimed the vacant heavyweight title by beating Ciryl Gane in March, after previous heavyweight Francis Ngannou departed the UFC in free agency. Given that, and they fact that Jones has only fought once at heavyweight, some have suggested that Jones’ claim as heavyweight champion is suspect to begin with. But that is a bridge too far for Cormier.
“I would have loved to see him and Francis fight,” Cormier said. “Francis was the undisputed heavyweight champion, but then Francis left. You can only fight the people in front of you. Because if I say that Jones isn’t undisputed because he didn’t beat Francis, how in the world could I ever call myself the champion of the world when I never beat Jones? And if I’m not the champion of the world back then, I’m never the double champion, because I never held the light heavyweight championship. And if I didn’t hold the light heavyweight championship, I never would have gotten the opportunity to fight for the heavyweight championship.
“You fight who is available. ... So yeah, Jones is the undisputed champ even though he never fought Ngannou.”
For what it’s worth, Aspinall agrees with Cormier, saying Jones should be stripped of the title in light of his injury and that he will happily fight Miocic while Jones recovers. The UFC, however, seems disinclined to pursue this avenue of fight booking, meaning that Jones will defend against Miocic sometime in 2024, and when that happens, Cormier has some concerns about the matchup.
“That’s one of my worries with Miocic in the Jones fight: He’s already 41,” Cormier said.
“It’s a whole other eight months, and you feel it when you start to get into your 40s in terms of training. Things start to slip. You’re not as good as you were. You can’t go to that next level. That’s one of those things I always could do. The only guy in the training room that could go to that next level with me was Cain [Velasquez]. The only guy that could go to that next level with me in the octagon was Jones. I could always go to another level, and then when I got older, I could feel myself — I couldn’t just take it to that next level anymore. My body wouldn’t allow. My [mind] wanted to do it, but I just didn’t have that gear anymore, that extra gear.”
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