In a cross-over with Glory Kickboxing heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven, Interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall engaged in a body shot competition with the king of kickboxing. Having meals and spending time with one another led the Dutch kickboxing king to ask Tom Aspinall about his potential unification fight with Jon Jones. In which many claim Jones to be ducking Aspinall and even speculated to be unofficially retired, to which the British champion responded:
“I think we’ll get it. He’s unpredictable, a real threat, and sometimes he falls out. People keep telling me different things—some say ‘just leave him alone and he’ll fight you,’ others say ‘the more you talk, the less he wants to fight.’ I’m like, ‘What’s this?’ He said straight up, ‘I’m not talking nonsense, I just want to do it.’ We’re supposed to be professional fighters — fight each other, that’s what we do.”
Aspinall, who has not fought since defending the interim title against Curtis Blaydes last year, has shown visible frustration with Jone Jones and the UFC not putting any real pressure on Jones to make the fight happen. With the division currently being held up by the inactive Jones, this reaction is well warranted.
Tom Aspinall is the most legitimate interim champion ever in the UFC.
There have been times when people have questioned interim titles. For example, when Yair Rodriguez won the interim featherweight title against Josh Emmett, many believed it was an unnecessary move by the UFC. As for someone like Tom Aspinall, who not only won the interim title on short notice against a knockout machine in Sergei Pavlovich but also defended it against Curtis Blaydes, avenging his only loss in the UFC. Aspinall is more than likely the greatest interim champion since Tony Ferguson.
