The return of Jon Jones to fight Stipe Miocic has been greatly anticipated in the fighting community. While the two were meant to clash against each other at UFC 295, Jones was forced to postpone his title defense owing to a torn pectoral tendon. Although the UFC heavyweight champion is set to defend his championship belt against Miocic, Tom Aspinall made some bold claims. The holdup in the HW division frustrated the interim champ as he sent out a few tweets targeting Miocic. But ‘The Silencer’ wasn’t holding up the division.

Recently, as the heat between Aspinall, Miocic, and Jones kept on rising, ‘Stone Cold’ sent forth a message to ‘Honey Badger’ in an interview. Let’s see what the HW had to say.

Stipe Miocic sends a message to Tom Aspinall while talking about the Jon Jones fight

CBS Sports’ Shakiel Mahjouri recently interviewed Miocic and shared the conversation on his YouTube channel, ‘Shak MMA’. As the conversation proceeded, Mahjouri pointed out how Miocic’s interactions with Jones were much more polite than Jones’ interactions with Aspinall. But then he asked the fighter to put himself in the interim champion’s shoes.

Miocic sympathized with Aspinall, claiming that he would have felt the same way. However, he wasn’t taking anything away from the ‘Honey Badger’. Instead, he fixed his eyes on fighting ‘Bones’ and trying to get the HW championship title. He said, “Yeah, I mean, I get it. And I mean, I feel the same way but I’m not taking any way from him. The UFC can do what they want. It is what it is. There’s only one guy I want to fight and that’s Jon Jones but at the same time, the UFC can pick who they want to fight.”

‘The Silencer’ was also disappointed at how things turned out between him and Jones. With uncertainty circling around their matchup, Miocic felt quite helpless. But he also had a stern response for Aspinall. Miocic opened up, “Everyone knows that there were a couple of times when I was ready to fight him but they gave it to another guy. I mean, what am I supposed to do, you know? I’m not holding up any division like everyone says. I don’t care, do what you want and stop crying. I’m not saying he’s crying. I’m just saying like fans and stuff.”

Despite the uncertainty, the heavyweight champion dropped down a tweet, sending a ray of hope to the fans who were waiting patiently for him to fight Miocic. He confirmed that he is apparently going to fight Miocic on 9th November, in New York. The date was also confirmed by Miocic. But let’s shift our focus to what Aspinall previously said about ‘The Silencer’.

‘Honey Badger’ disses ‘Stone Cold’ for rejecting him

Earlier this year, the HW interim champion took to X and released a few tweets, seemingly frustrated by the fallout of the fight between Jones and Miocic. He claimed that he was approached by the UFC to fight the #6 HW fighter. However, Miocic was fixated on just one fight, i.e., Jon Jones. This infuriated Aspinall to a great extent. 

‘Honey badger’ then promised that he would stay quiet and accept the fact that he won’t be able to land against Miocic anytime soon. Nevertheless, he seemed to have immense respect for his fellow fighters. He wrote, “On that note. I will stop crying, accept it ain’t gonna happen and enjoy the fight that me and all the other fans want to see. Legend vs legend for the heavyweight title. Maximum respect guys. Yay’”

Needless to say, the Jones vs. Miocic fight has kept the fans excited, even though it was postponed by about a year. But would it have been better for the division had ‘Stone Cold’ accepted the fight with Aspinall? Do you think Miocic and Jones will finally fight in November? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.