Aspinall: I won't defend UFC interim title again

Tom Aspinall says he refuses to make another UFC interim heavyweight title defense before challenging for the undisputed championship.

"I'm not doing that shit again," Aspinall told Main Event on Wednesday. "No. I told the UFC that my next fight needs to be for undisputed, and that's it.

"That's the last thing I've gotta do in my career, the last thing I want to do."

Aspinall is the backup fighter for Saturday's UFC 309 main event between heavyweight champion Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic in New York.

Though Aspinall would usually be first in line to unify the belts, the UFC made a rare exception for what is being billed as a legacy fight between Jones, one of the greatest fighters of all time, and Miocic, the greatest heavyweight in promotion history.

Aspinall, who has held the interim title since November 2023, defended it for the first time when he knocked out Curtis Blaydes in a rematch at UFC 304 in July.

The Englishman said the UFC brass agreed that his next fight needs to be for the undisputed title.

"They said, '(You're) absolutely right,'" Aspinall said.

He added: "That's just what I want. That's my dream, is to be undisputed UFC heavyweight champion. And yeah, I am heavyweight champion right now, but there's also another guy."

Unfortunately for Aspinall, it seems improbable he'll get a chance to fight the Jones-Miocic winner. Jones said earlier this week he wants to either face light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira or retire after UFC 309, while Miocic - who's returning to the Octagon for the first time since March 2021 - hasn't talked about what his future holds.

If Jones vacates the heavyweight title in order to pursue a superfight against Pereira, it would automatically promote Aspinall to undisputed champion.

Aspinall said he finds it odd that Jones isn't bothered by the fact they both hold a heavyweight title.

"The only way we can solve that really is fight about it," Aspinall said. "But he seems to be completely fine with me also (walking around with a belt), which is kind of weird."