Dana White Defends Jones Vs. Miocic – ‘They Paid Their Dues'
Dana White has shut down criticism of Jon Jones facing Stipe Miocic.
Jones is expected to face Miocic in a defense of his UFC Heavyweight Title as he works his way to full fitness. He pulled out of the Miocic fight last year at UFC 295 after suffering an injury in sparring. He injured his pectoral muscle, which required surgery. Tom Aspinall demanded that the UFC strip Jones so he could fight Miocic for the belt. This was with a view to the winner, then fighting Jones.
Dana dismissed those suggestions, as Aspinall was given an interim title defence. He stopped Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 to win the title and did the same to Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 to defend the belt. White has said Aspinall will now fight the winner of Jones-Miocic. But he stopped short of saying the Aspinall fight should have happened before this.
White Reacts
"What he did to Curtis Blaydes, the way he did and how fast he did it, there’s no doubt. This guy is a scary dude. He looks like the future of the heavyweight division right? But at the same time, he’s working his way up. He’s climbing up the ladder. Everybody’s like ‘He deserves this, he deserves that’, no.
"He doesn’t deserve anything. He looks great, and he looks like he’s going to be the guy. But Stipe [Miocic] and Jon [Jones] have paid their dues, they’ve been here forever and fought everybody… These guys deserve to fight each other. Whoever wins that fight, they owe it to Aspinall to fight him and give him the opportunity that they’ve been given," White said
Mocic is regarded as one of the best heavyweights in the UFC of all time. His achievements speak for themselves. He has had four successful title defenses, three during his first reign as heavyweight champion and the other during his second stint.
Paul Responds
White has said Stipe Miocic will retire after his fight with Jon Jones. But there is speculation that the winner could retire anyway, as both are in the latter part of their career. Mocic is 42, while Jones is 37. That allows the winner to stake their claim as the best heavyweight ever. White has confirmed that Miocic will leave regardless.
"Stipe 100 percent is going to retire after this fight. Listen, Jon Jones, you know how I talk about Jon Jones and what I think of Jon Jones as a fighter — Jon Jones always loves to challenge himself, moved up to heavyweight. I don’t know what Jon Jones will do after this fight, but I would be shocked if he didn’t want to test himself against [Tom] Aspinall. At the end of the day, I get it. Everybody wants to see Tom Aspinall, but let me tell you what, after Stipe and Jon fight, whoever wins, the Aspinall fight is even bigger, White said
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