“I have never caused a delay” – After being accused of two years inactivity, Stipe Miocic responds to Tom Aspinall

Tom Aspinall became the interim heavyweight champion by defeating Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295. As such, this gave him the right to claim his undisputed title shot at Jon Jones. However, the UFC dismissed his chances and persisted with the Jones vs. Stipe Miocic matchup. As such, Aspinall lashed out at Miocic on his X account with a series of tweets. Now, Miocic responded to those tweets.

In his tweets, Tom Aspinall called out Stipe Miocic for his inactivity. Aspinall trolled Stipe, making comparisons with other time frames. However, Miocic responded calmly, stating he didn’t delay the Jon Jones fight. Further, he was confident in winning the title and assured Aspinall of his shot then. Here is what he said:

I have never caused a delay in the Jon fight. Tom, once I get this win, let’s talk to unify the belt.

Stipe Miocic via X

Originally, Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic was set to headline UFC 295 in November 2023. But, an injury to Jones canceled their bout. As such, the UFC hurriedly put forth an interim matchup between Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich. Hence, Aspinall was partly lucky to grab the title under the unfortunate circumstances. But the same circumstances hindered his further growth as an interim champion. Still, Aspinall pushed his luck with voicing out for the ‘deserved matchup’ to be made.

Stipe Miocic last fought Francis Ngannou in March 2021. He lost the fight via knockout and lost his heavyweight title. Since then, he hasn’t fought and tried to make a comeback after two years in 2023. However, it got delayed due to Jones’ injury. Now again, with the favor of the UFC, the legacy matchup between Jones and Miocic will take place this year per Dana White.

Tom Aspinall trolls Stipe Miocic and the UFC for the legacy matchup

Recently, Tom Aspinall posted a series of tweets venting out on the UFC and Stipe Miocic. He expressed frustration and disappointment in the UFC awarding Stipe Miocic a title shot over him. As such, he compared Miocic to Tony Ferguson in an attempt to mock the legendary heavyweight. The UFC stood firm in booking Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic despite having an active interim Champion on the line.

Firstly, Tom Aspinall acknowledged the legendary status of Stipe Miocic and spoke about his resume. However, things took a turn when he mentioned Tony Ferguson has the same attributes of a good resume. Here is what he said:

Absolutely, Stipe has a great Resume and is a legend in his own right. So has Tony Furgeson. Maybe we should give him a shot at the undisputed title next too?

Tom Aspinall via X

Stipe Miocic arguably had the best resume at heavyweight since he still held the record for most title defenses in the division. However, Tom Aspinall didn’t let that divert from the fact that Miocic was coming off a loss, a two-year lay-off, and the UFC handing him a title shot. So, as a deserving contender, an interim champion, Tom Aspinall called out the unfairness of his situation.

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