The main card of UFC 304 was announced on May 16th, 2024, and to nobody’s surprise, Tom Aspinall will not be fighting Jon Jones at the England PPV.
Instead, the British UFC star will be putting his Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship on the line against Curtis Blaydes. This fight will be the co-main event due to it being for the Interim title, as UFC Welterweight Champion Leon Edwards will defend his title in the main event against Belal Muhammad.
Jones has made it clear that he doesn’t want to fight Aspinall, but the question that is on most people’s minds is why not.
Tom Aspinall vs Curtis Blaydes
Tom Aspinall is scheduled to defend his Interim Heavyweight Championship against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304. These two have fought before, however, the fight stopped in the first round due to an injury suffered by Aspinall. It would be interesting to see how the two will perform at their best and with no controversies.
Blaydes is coming off of a huge win over top prospect Jailton Almeida, a fight which he won in the 2nd round via TKO. Blaydes has been a big name in the division for a long time, but this is certainly the most important fight of his career to date.
Aspinall is coming off a huge first-round knockout win over Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295. That fight was for the vacant Heavyweight Interim Championship, and Aspinall claimed the title after his dominating performance.
Also Read: Legendary Return Announced For UFC 303
Why Jon Jones Won’t Fight Aspinall
The reason Jon Jones gave for not putting up his UFC Heavyweight Championship on the line against Tom Aspinall is that he wants a “legacy fight” against Stipe Miocic instead. Stipe is considered to be the greatest UFC Heavyweight of all time, and Jon believes a win over him will mean much more on his resume than a win over Aspinall.
However, even though many consider Miocic the greatest Heavyweight in UFC history, fans are also looking at the facts. Stipe is a 41-year-old shell of his former self who hasn’t had a UFC fight since February 2021, in which he got knocked out by Francis Ngannou.
Although a win over Stipe would be a good look on Jon’s resume, it would ultimately not mean as much compared to a possible win over Tom Aspinall, someone who many believe has the skills to retire as a better overall fighter than Stipe when all is said and done.
“The Real Reason” (Fan Reaction)
The fan reaction to Jones not wanting to fight Aspinall is that he was essentially “ducking the fight.” It is believed that Jones knows that Stipe is a much easier opponent than Tom and that it would allow for him to retire on a high note.
Fans believe that the current Interim Champion should always be next in line for a title shot at the World Champion. In terms of UFC standards, world title shots are the reason interim championships are handed out. If Jones wants to return for a last fight, it should be against Aspinall and not Miocic.
It has also been noted/requested by fans that if Jones doesn’t want to fight Aspinall and simply wants a legacy fight against Stipe, then the right thing to do would be to vacate the UFC Heavyweight Championship. This idea would make sense as it would allow for Jones to have his Stipe fight, and would also allow for Aspinall to potentially become the new Heavyweight Champion.
