"Jon Jones should be stripped" - Tom Aspinall tells the UFC to stop protecting 'Bones' and calls for a fight with Stipe Miocic

Jon Jones retaining the UFC heavyweight title, despite suffering a serious injury, has confused the interim champion Tom Aspinall.

Aspinall took on Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 last weekend, where he was crowned the interim title holder after knocking his opponent out in Round 1.

'Bones' was scheduled to take on Stipe Miocic in the main event of last week's pay-per-view card. But he tore his pectoral muscle two weeks before the fight, and the interim clash was organized to replace it.

During a recent interview with Michael Bisping, Aspinall shared his thoughts on Jones remaining champion and called for a clash with Stipe Miocic. He said this:

"I haven't heard anything from the UFC. I think Jon Jones should be stripped of the title to be honest, because everyone else does when they get injured like that. I don't see why he's still got it."

Aspinall continued:

"I don't want to sound rude, but who's a**ed about Jones vs. Stipe anymore? Why do they get this legacy fight and they get to live by they're own rules... I want to fight Stipe and then I want to fight Jon Jones. That's what I wanna do, to answer your question. I think all this other stuff is a load of rubbish, stop protecting [Jones] now. Stop protecting your boy."

Watch the video below from 34:45:

Following surgery, Jones is expected to be out for at least eight months. But during the post-UFC 295 press conference, CEO Dana White confirmed that 'Bones' and Miocic will still compete for the undisputed title, leaving Tom Aspinall in an awkward position.

---

Israel Adesanya calls for Tom Aspinall vs. Stipe Miocic while Jon Jones recovers from injury

As mentioned earlier, Jon Jones suffered a torn pectoral muscle two weeks prior to UFC 295 that has put him on the sidelines for at least eight months. 'Bones' didn't relinquish the title, but his scheduled clash with Stipe Miocic was canceled, and the UFC are likely to re-book it in 2024.

Instead, Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich went to war for the interim title at UFC 295 last weekend, with the Mancunian winning via first-round KO.

Israel Adesanya posted a video of him reacting following the card and called for a clash between Miocic and Aspinall while Jon Jones recovers from injury. Adesanya said this:

"Yeah, while Jones heals up I think so, yeah. That's the right call, [to make Aspinall vs. Miocic] and then whoever wins that fights Jones to unify the belt. That's the pathway. [Aspinall's] fresh."

Watch the video below from 4:10: