Jon Jones is right about Stipe Miocic fight but missing 1 key point

On May 9, reigning UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones took to Twitter to explain in-depth his reasoning for wanting to fight former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and not fighting the interim champion Tom Aspinall first.

“I’m in the middle of a pretty clear decision,” Jones wrote. “Stick to exact and original plans, and fight the man with all the accolades or completely disregard all of the Stipe training I’ve put in and fight another potential hype train that may not even be around in three years."

He continued, “I am not changing my plans for anyone. Stipe is over there as the best heavyweight ever working his ass off. I’m gonna give that man what he wants, and I’m going to claim another head. Whatever comes next comes next.”

Jon Jones doesn't want to give up Stipe Miocic fight

Jones isn't exactly wrong, in theory. Miocic is the biggest fight and would be a legacy fight for Jones. But the key thing here he isn't mentioning is the title. If Jones really wants to fight Miocic and thinks it's the biggest fight, the title really doesn't matter. He should relinquish it if he's not willing to fight the interim champion.

It's not Aspinall's fault Jones was injured and it's not fair to sit him on the sidelines while Jones recovers and then fights another man. The whole point of the interim championship is for the belt to be unified first. I can't remember a time when an interim champion and an undisputed champion didn't fight each other next, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Jones seems to think the UFC made a mistake making Aspinall an interim champion knowing full well Jones would want Stipe first. And he might be right there too. But how he feels doesn't change the fact that they gave him an interim title and now a fight needs to happen.

My guess is that we'll see Aspinall on the sidelines or the UFC will eventually strip Jones. he's been stripped before as light heavyweight champion, so it's not something the promotion is afraid of doing.

What I'd like to see happen is the title to be stripped from Jones, unless he fights Aspinall this year. Then Aspinall can move on to another fight. In the meantime, Jones and Stipe can still fight. Make it a big deal, call it the legacy fight, call it whatever you want. Having a title means nothing for that fight. Fans are smart enough to "get it."

If Jones wants to keep fighting after Miocic, then he can fight Aspinall or whoever holds the title then to get it back. But I wouldn't be shocked if the Jones/Stipe fight ends up being a double retirement bout, which is even more reason to put the title to the side.