Over 600 days have passed, yet Jon Jones has still not unified his heavyweight title against interim champion Tom Aspinall.
Rather than facing the interim champion last year, the reigning UFC Heavyweight Champion scheduled his first title defense against the 42-year-old former champion Stipe Miocic for UFC 309 in November.
Following the disruption to his planned fight with Stipe Miocic, Jon Jones hasn’t expressed much urgency or interest in facing the undeniable Tom Aspinall next. Instead, he`s reportedly opting for appearances like a reality TV show in Thailand with Nate Diaz, where he`s described as `living his best life,` enjoying coconuts and time with figures like Hasbulla.
Meanwhile, Aspinall patiently awaits his opportunity to face the fighter widely considered the greatest of all time in a highly anticipated matchup that currently seems uncertain.
Michael Bisping Calls for Jon Jones to `Defend or Vacate` Heavyweight Title
Jones, 37, known for defeating multiple generations of light heavyweights during his prime, appears less enthusiastic about facing Aspinall, who is six years his junior and possesses formidable striking power.
Former UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping believes that just as then-champion Mauricio Rua granted a title shot to a 21-year-old Jon Jones in 2011, Jones should now extend the same courtesy to Aspinall.
“For Jon to not wanna give this guy an opportunity, where other people gave him an opportunity…” Michael Bisping said on The BohnFire with Mike Bohn.
“He was the youngest champion in this sport, and he’s always talking about, there’s always gonna be younger guys coming along. Well, what about when you were fighting for the belt and you were the youngest person to ever do it?
“You got that opportunity. And when you become the champion, there is an obligation to do that.
Bisping continued.
“Defend or vacate, it’s that simple.”
“And all these cryptic tweets and going out to Thailand and living his best life and s—, great. If that’s what you wanna do, congratulations, go off, enjoy your life, but do the decent thing…”
Tony Ferguson Issued Similar `Defend or Vacate` Message to Conor McGregor
Prior to Jon Jones ascending to the heavyweight championship, superstar Conor McGregor similarly stalled one of the UFC`s most dynamic divisions, the lightweight class.
Rather than defending his newly acquired lightweight belt against top contenders like Tony Ferguson or Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2017, McGregor opted for a multi-million dollar boxing match against Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Ferguson actively sought a fight with McGregor for a considerable period, repeatedly urging the Irishman to either ‘defend or vacate’ the title.
“What about our division?” Ferguson told TNT Sports of McGregor’s move to boxing in 2017.
“There’s plenty of people to be beaten up, but I have to say defend or vacate.
“If you don’t hold that belt for a certain amount of time you got to let it go, son.
“If you’re going to just hold it up a little bit more, you got to let it go. You’re holding on to something that’s just not there.”
Having won the title in November 2016, McGregor was ultimately stripped of the championship in April 2018. Khabib Nurmagomedov subsequently fought Al Iaquinta for the now-vacant belt.
McGregor`s tenure as champion spanned 521 days without a single title defense.
As of the time of this writing, Jon Jones` heavyweight title reign has lasted around 810 days. Tom Aspinall secured the interim championship 558 days ago after Jones withdrew from his planned defense against Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 due to injury.
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