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UFC interim champion Tom Aspinall wonders if he's already notched his first official title defense.
Aspinall is just over a month away from surpassing Renan Barao's record of holding the interim title at 535 days. Aspinall claimed the interim belt with a knockout of Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 in November 2023, and has since defended it with a first-round TKO of Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in July.
Chomping at the bit to get his title-unification bout with UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC), Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) will meet with company brass in London this week to seek answers.
"I don't know. You see, it gets a bit complicated with that because to be the best heavyweight ever, you only need three title defenses, and do I have one or not?" Aspinall told The Schmo. "I don't know. I'm not sure. But I think I should have one because it was a legit title defense, but it was for an interim title, and it becomes a bit weird. So these are the questions I'm going to be asking the UFC."
After finishing Stipe Miocic at UFC 309, Jones said he would need "f*ck you" money to consider facing Aspinall over Alex Pereira. But after Pereira lost his light heavyweight title to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313, Aspinall says Jones now has no other choice but to fight him.
"I'm an Alex Pereira fan. I love his style. I love the run he has been on," Aspinall said in a one-on-one interview with Adam Catterall. "I really respect where he's come from and everything like that, but it couldn't have happened at a better time for me, personally.
"There's nowhere to go for Johnny. He either has to fight me or retire now. If he does retire, everyone knows that he will have been avoiding me. Literally, there isn't another fight for Jon at the moment, so it works out pretty good."
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This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC interim champ Tom Aspinall thinks Curtis Blaydes win should be considered legit title defense
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