The UFC is making Tom Aspinall play second fiddle to the symphony that is Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic. While previous interim heavyweight champions were promoted to undisputed status, Aspinall is the only heavyweight to have defended his interim title. This development happened due to Jones and Miocic being adamant about facing each other. Naturally, the English fighter seems miffed at Jones refusing to unify the title. While ‘Bones’ hinted at a possible retirement after UFC 309, Miocic thinks he might continue fighting. Considering this scenario, will Stipe stick around to eventually face Tom Aspinall? Fellow Englishman Michael Bisping gave his thoughts regarding a situation where Stipe beats Jones.

In a conversation with Mike Harrington on the ‘Believe You Me’ podcast, the former middleweight champion said, “Listen he [Stipe] loves being a fireman he has made millions of dollars already. But when you can cash in when you beat Jon Jones there’ll be a lot of people watching that. If he gets PPV points, in that he wins, he becomes undisputed champion.” The TUF 3 winner further speculated on what Miocic’s win could mean for Aspinall – “And then it’s Tom Aspinall vs Stipe. And it’s not like Stipe is a b***h you know what I mean? It’s not like Stipe is going to be like, you know, ‘On no I don’t wanna fight this guy.’ You know what I mean? The man’s one of the baddest men on the planet.”

Before his brutal loss to Francis Ngannou at UFC 260, Stipe Miocic was enjoying his status as a two-time heavyweight champion, and the only man to defend the title three consecutive times. With knockout wins of Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem, and Daniel Cormier, Miocic cemented his status as the greatest heavyweight to ever do it. With the comeback against Jones, however, many wonder if Miocic can rely on his past credentials to beat the arguable GOAT of the sport.

On the other hand, Tom Aspinall brought a new meta into the UFC heavyweight division with his speed and power. With eight finishes in eight wins, Aspinall disposed of every opponent within the first or second round. On paper, ‘Honey Badger’ should have faced Stipe Miocic, if not Jon Jones even if it meant having his first title defense against the Croatian-American. Reacting to all the chatter regarding Aspinall’s dilemma, Miocic said the following, “I just wanted to fight Jon. Aspinall is a great fighter but I just wanted to fight Jon Jone. It’s a fight I wanted and the UFC gave it to me. They didn’t have to”. To add salt to an open wound, former middleweight Chael Sonnen raised important points about the insignificance of Aspinall’s interim title in the face of the real one.

Chael Sonnen questions Tom Aspinall’s interim title relevance after UFC 309

The ‘American Gangster’ was not convinced that Aspinall would be getting the title shot even if he tried to disrupt the fight between Jones and Miocic. On his YouTube channel, Chael Sonnen questioned the significance of interim titles – “Is Tom Aspinall aware that when he comes out with that [interim] belt for any interviews that he does moving forward, the moment that bell rings, whoever is opposite is no longer the champion? The fans and media think if Stipe beats Jones, there’s a new champ. But the reality is, the interim belt fades the second Jones and Miocic face off.”

However, Aspinall remains unfazed by these comments and expressed excitement at witnessing the heavyweight titans clash at UFC 309. Sharing a video to his socials, the English fighter said the following, “I want to go up close and see what these guys look like in live action. How are they moving? What are they doing? You can see little differences in real life [more] than you can on the TV. I’m looking forward to that.”

The path for ‘Honey Badger’ looks pretty foggy right now. Who do you think Aspinall will face after Miocic and Jones are done fighting? Do you think he will get the chance to have a unifying title fight against the winner of UFC 309? Let us know in the comments below.