Tom Aspinall will defend his interim heavyweight title at UFC 304 instead of fighting the champion. Cases like these usually arise when the champion already has a fight scheduled. However, in Aspinall’s case, the champion Jon Jones does not have a fight scheduled, but is just biding his time to make his return to the octagon. Shedding light on the same, Robert Whittaker spoke about the heavyweight situation in a recent podcast.
The Tom Aspinall-Jon Jones situation has the MMA world divided. While some are urging Aspinall to defend his title, others believe Jones should be fighting him at UFC 304.
Robert Whittaker appeared in the latest episode of the ‘MMAARCADE’ podcast as he spoke about why Aspinall needs to defend his title. Whittaker said,
“If UFC are giving him the opportunity to defend the interim belt, understandably it’s not the belt but he’ll still be paid PPV money, he’ll still be paid championship money. It’s a way to keep him going.”
Robert Whittaker spoke about how Tom Aspinall needs to stay active since he was getting better with every fight. He believes Jones can take his time to return simply because of how much he has done, not just for the UFC but also the sport of MMA in general.
The 33-year-old also spoke about how Aspinall can’t really complain because he will still be defending a title and get good PPV money. And well, Whittaker is not the only one who is inclined towards the idea of Aspinall defending his interim championship.
Yet another MMA analyst who sides with Robert Whittaker is Chael Sonnen. The former UFC fighter recently spoke about the situation on his show.
Tom Aspinall vs. Curtis Blaydes: A necessary bout?
In a recent episode of the ‘Good Guy/Bad Guy’ show hosted by Chael Sonnen and Daniel Cormier, Sonnen spoke about why Tom Aspinall needs to fight Curtis Blaydes and not Ciryl Gane. The UFC veteran said,
“If you put Tom Aspinall against Ciryl Gane, and Ciryl Gane gets the jump on him, make no mistake, you just retired Jon Jones. In that very moment. If Tom Aspinall goes down, Jon Jones does not return beyond Stipe.”
Chael Sonnen believes that if Tom Aspinall takes on Ciryl Gane and the Frenchman wins, then Jon Jones will retire after his next fight.
This is because Ciryl Gane then becomes the title challenger, a man who he beat in the very first round. So Jones will not be interested in fighting him again. Thus, with speculations running wild, it is now up to Dana White to decide who Aspinall’s next opponent will be.
