Daniel Cormier is shaking things up in the UFC heavyweight division.
With current champion Jon Jones sidelined due to injury, Cormier, a former titleholder himself, believes that Tom Aspinall deserves more than an interim title. Aspinall’s 69-second victory over Sergei Pavlovich earned him the interim heavyweight title, but Cormier argues that he deserves the real thing.
“If Jones and Stipe are only going to fight each other, you can’t have Tom Aspinall defend the interim title,” Cormier told Ariel Helwani on a recent episode of The MMA Hour. “Jones and Stipe don’t need the title to be on the line. They can just fight, and that’s enough. Call it ‘The Greatest of All Time’ belt. It doesn’t matter. Just create a belt.”
Cormier continued: “Tom Aspinall is the future of the heavyweight division. Yes, I believe he should be the undisputed champion. Jones is the undisputed champion – he earned it in the octagon by beating Ciryl Gane. If he’s only going to fight Stipe, and that’s not for another 7 months? Put Tom Aspinall as the champion, and I don’t think anyone would bat an eyelid.”
Aspinall agrees. In a recent interview with Michael Bisping, he said, “I think Jon Jones should be stripped of the title, because everyone else is when they get hurt like that.”
“Why do we get this legacy fight, and they get to live by their own rules? What’s a legacy fight, a retirement fight for a title? I want to fight Stipe and then I want to fight Jon Jones. … I think all this other stuff is nonsense. Stop protecting him now. Stop protecting your boy Jon Jones at the top. If he’s hurt, step aside and I’ll fight Stipe.”
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