“To be the man you gotta beat the man!” Dana White reveals winner of Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich have to wait around to fight winner of Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic

Dana White clarifies the doubts regarding who fights for the heavyweight title when Jon Jones returns from the injury.

“To be the man you gotta beat the man!” Dana White reveals winner of Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich have to wait around to fight winner of Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic

Dana White says Jon Jones' will face Stipe Miocic on his return (via IMAGO)

Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic was the initial main event of UFC 295. Unfortunately, Jon Jones suffered an injury during practice and pulled out. Dana White quickly arranged a fight between Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich to replace the originally scheduled bout. This fight takes place for the interim heavyweight championship.

The UFC usually books a fight between the interim champion and the undisputed champion to unify the belts. However, Dana White said Jones vs. Miocic will be next for the undisputed title despite the interim championship. Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic are legends of the sport, and the UFC CEO remains keen on making this fight despite hurdles. He also answered the question of what happens if both of them retire after fighting each other:

To be the man, you gotta beat the man! So, whoever wins that fight, would be nice to see them stick around and defend it. So, that we can't determine until it happens.
– Dana White said at the Power Slap Press Conference
YouTube video

Jon Jones is the current heavyweight champion. Now, he has been sidelined for eight months due to his injury. Dana White considered it unfair to strip him of the belt. Furthermore, he doesn’t want the Stipe matchup to fall apart. So, he encouraged Aspinall and Pavlovich to fight for the interim championship and wait for their opportunity at the undisputed belt.

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Pavlovich vs. Aspinall goes down as the co-main event of UFC 295. This is expected to be a closely contested bout. The winner reigns as the interim champion. Jones’ return is expected to be against Stipe, per Dana White. So, Stipe will have to wait for his much-anticipated comeback fight.

Jon Anik gives his thoughts on Dana White’s newly made announcement about the fight between Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich

The UFC play-by-play commentator, Jon Anik, went on Twitter to share his excitement about the newly made matchup between Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich. The winner of this fight will become the interim heavyweight champion. This fight takes place in the co-main event spot of UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden, New York.

Jon Anik – UFC’s Play-by-play commentator (via Sports Illustrated)

Jon Anik expressed his disappointment about the canceled main event involving Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic. But he felt this new matchup between Aspinall and Pavlovich made the most sense with regard to the UFC’s heavyweight division. This is what Jon Anik wrote: 

In terms of overall heavyweight relevance in 2023 and beyond, Tom Aspinall v. Sergei Pavlovich is THE fight. Both primed, primal, and ready to kill/defend regularly.
Jon Anik via X.

Although the winner claims the interim belt, they must wait for their shot at the undisputed title, per Dana White. It means until Jones returns to the octagon and defends his belt against Stipe. So, whoever wins it( as Anik said, ‘defend regularly’) has to be ready to defend it as well.

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