Media Tom Aspinall says Stipe Miocic turned down UFC 300 fight, targets summer return

[TankAbbott4Eva]

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Does ANYONE wanna see Stipe vs Jones instead of Aspinall vs Jones? Seriously i'm honestly curious bc Dana keeps saying thats what the fans want, but i havent heard one fan say that,.......like no one

That's what shits me, only Stipe and Jones want this, not the fans. I've no idea why they haven't stripped Jones anyway, fuck him, let him fight Stipe in a non title fight eventually and then he can challenge the champ if he wants.

 

[Captain Herb]

Well there you go, if that's true then Jon and Stipe only have hard-ons for each other. Give Aspinall the belt and they can get a room.

 

[7 others]

Didn't Stipe recently say just the opposite, that he was willing to fight Tom?

Of course he would hahaahhaha

 

[MrBlackheart]

Tom shouldn’t feel so bad. I was also contacted by the UFC to fight Stipe. I accept but unfortunately, he turned it down.

 

[Thesnake101]

Why can't Tom defend his Interim? Jones is out for months as is, we don't need to wait a year for Tom to fight again. The point is supposed to be to keep the division moving.

Why should Jon keep the belt if he can't defend it?

 

[Domitian]

Why should Jon keep the belt if he can't defend it?

He shouldn't, but we know what's going to happen. It's just an unfortunate reality we have to deal with. I don't want Tom not fighting to be another unfortunate reality we have to deal with. FML.

 

[podsox]

I'd rather Almeida vs Aspinal, at least its a fresh face

Almeida already has his hands full with an extremely tough stylistic matchup at ufc 299

 

[Tweak896]

Stipe is entitled to a real title shot. No way he's going to risk his free title shot for an interim belt. That means he has to win and fight Jones after if he took it.

 

[orca]

tom you should wipe out 2-3 generations of fighters if u want legacy
let the GOATS fight
make your own legacy start it right now

or are you trying to duck contenders?

 

[g*r*b]

Didn't Stipe recently say just the opposite, that he was willing to fight Tom?

Yes...but after the Jones fight that he expects to win.

 

[g*r*b]

People were giving Jones shit for wanting to fight Miocic over Aspinall, but when it’s Miocic wanting to fight Jones over Aspinall people are much more understanding…

That's because Stipe isn't hogging the belt. Duh.

 

[93confirmed]

Aspinall/Almeida for the title. Let Jones and Stipe bang and both can retire on the spot.

 

[svmr_db]

Aspinall/Almeida for the title. Let Jones and Stipe bang and both can retire on the spot.

Almeida has to fight Blaydes first, that's no gimme fight. Almeida's standup isn't anything special & it's unlikely he can manhandle Blaydes like he has guys like Lewis & Rozenstruik.

 

[CC27]

It was said from the start that Jones and Stipe only wanted to fight each other but people went on and on like UFC is forcing them to fight nad is screwing Tom over etc. No, they only want to fight each other cause its bigger for their legacy and their wallets.

Why would stipe accept this and risk losing out on the Jones fight.

 

[Ace70 V2]

Stipe wants the resl belt first. And to get a W against Jon. Can't be mad at him for that. The UFC asking Tom was stupid since they hadn't talked to Stipe yet.

 

[g*r*b]

Look. Stipe has been wanting to fight Jones for a long time. Longer than Aspinall has been in the UFC, even. And one damn thing after another has prevented it. This last time he was within weeks of pulling it off and Jones rips his pec clean off the bone. I'm not going to claim it's reached Khabib/Ferguson levels of pathos and frustration...but.

So now he's supposed to risk his chance yet again? Even if he wins the Aspinall fight, he could end up hurt enough that it makes no sense at his age to rehab and try to stage a comeback. And for what? A crack at an interim belt only a few months sooner than a chance for the REAL one?

And that's if we can believe Tom this time. He was wrong about Stipe turning him down for MSG, both Stipe and Dana confirmed he was never offered the interim fight.

 

[Poirierfan]

This is such bullshit, fuck Stipe and fuck Jon Jones. What a retarded fight, Stipe doesn't deserve it what so ever. Not after not having fought in years and getting KO'ed last time, phsst.

 

[Poirierfan]

Look. Stipe has been wanting to fight Jones for a long time. Longer than Aspinall has been in the UFC, even. And one damn thing after another has prevented it. This last time he was within weeks of pulling it off and Jones rips his pec clean off the bone. I'm not going to claim it's reached Khabib/Ferguson levels of pathos and frustration...but.

So now he's supposed to risk his chance yet again? Even if he wins the Aspinall fight, he could end up hurt enough that it makes no sense at his age to rehab and try to stage a comeback. And for what? A crack at an interim belt only a few months sooner than a chance for the REAL one?

And that's if we can believe Tom this time. He was wrong about Stipe turning him down for MSG, both Stipe and Dana confirmed he was never offered the interim fight.

The fight should never be happening. Stipe hasn't fought in forever and got KO'ed the last time out. Plus it's holding up the division. If they must have their bullshit fight, let them fight, but strip Jon. This is actually worse than something boxing would do.

 

[g*r*b]

The fight should never be happening. Stipe hasn't fought in forever and got KO'ed the last time out. Plus it's holding up the division. If they must have their bullshit fight, let them fight, but strip Jon. This is actually worse than something boxing would do.

Yes, he lost his last fight by KO. Which tied the score of fights with Ngannou at 1-1, but did he get the trilogy match he wanted? No. And the whole Ngannou mess with him being injured and then the contract issues stalled the division worse than the current situation.

Oh, but he shouldn't have gotten a rematch anyways after being KOd decisively? Yeah, that was the argument made after Stipe lost to DC. That it wasn't gonna turn out any differently. But it did. Twice. And let us remember THAT 3rd of a trilogy fight was forced by DC, who declared it his retirement fight...and everybody GUSHED over him and said he deserved it, and pissed on Stipe when his manager suggested that a fresh face for an opponent would be nice.

Stipe hasn't fought in forever? He said yes to a fight twice last year. The first time, the UFC changed its mind after he verbally agreed, and went with Gane to fight for the vacant belt with Jones. (At least this is Stipe's claim.) The second time, the UFC changed its mind when Jones got injured and they decided to sideline Stipe too EVEN THOUGH there was a backup fighter designated. I guess the more the UFC screws him, the less deserving he becomes?

You know what fight shouldn't have happened? An interim belt fight TWO WEEKS after the champ gets injured.

 

[blackheart]

This is #1 bullshit. They are holding the hw strap hostage and keeping it away from the rightful champ.