Dana White Urges Winner of Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic to Fight Tom Aspinall

While retirement talks loom large in the aftermath of Jon Jones’ upcoming heavyweight title fight against Stipe Miocic, UFC CEO Dana White isn’t so sure that would be the best move for either athlete.

While Jones and Miocic were originally scheduled to fight at UFC 295 this past November, “Bones” was forced out due to a torn pectoral muscle. Tom Aspinall went on to defeat Russian knockout artist Sergei Pavlovich in an interim title booking that was put together at the last moment.

Jones was also offered a slot for UFC 300 in April but turned it down, as he wouldn’t recover in time from a recent elbow surgery. With no timeline in sight for Jones’ return, Aspinall initially called for the champ to be stripped of the title and has since been rallying for a booking against either “Bones” or Miocic.

However, judging by their stance over recent months, there is a lot of speculation about both Jones and Miocic retiring after their clash.

According to White, the winner of the heavyweight title fight must give the interim champ a shot at the unified belt in order to cement their G.O.A.T status.

“Yes, this summer it should happen,” White told Maxx Crosby. “It’s interesting [on the retirement aspect]. I think it depends on who wins. I mean, either guy that wins, how do you not fight Aspinall?

“I think there’s a — it’s almost like a courtesy, if you will. If you’re looked at as one of the G.O.A.T.s, whoever wins this fight, it’s almost like a courtesy thing to give that guy the shot. Give him an opportunity to win or you win and it just absolutely cements... nobody can poke holes in [the legacy] that nobody can say anything about it.”