Finally we finally have clarification about the future of the heavyweight division of the UFC after an important announcement by Dana White.
At UFC Baku, White announced that Jon Jones officially retired, which means that interim champion Tom Aspinall has been promoted to undisputed.
The two men who fight fans have called for a huge confrontation in the news with Jones who posted a long statement on social media.
At the same time, the new undisputed champion offered a short but sweet message with Aspinall who wants to make the division active again now that he is the only heavyweight champion.
When announcing the news during the press conference after the fight, White was asked if he regrets how this long and deferred situation unfolded.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty images
Dana White admits that he regrets how Tom Aspinall was treated while waiting for Jon Jones's decision
The newest update from Dana White for UFC Baku with regard to the future of Jon Jones was that the promotion would bring him back to bring it back, but if they were unable to reach an agreement, they would quickly continue.
A report by Ariel Helwani confirmed White's earlier comments that Jones accepted the fight, but later he declined his decision.
Fight -fans have become incredibly frustrated in recent months with the lack of direction of the UFC, in which people were tired of waiting for an announcement, despite the fact that it seemed clear that Jones had no intention of fighting.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
During the press conference after the fight on UFC Baku, White said he has no regrets of how much time they gave Jones before he came to this decision.
The UFC -CEO did state that if he has one regrets how everything is playing, it is that Tom Aspinall was forced to wait on the sidelines with the interim champion who just wanted to stay active.
'Do I regret the time I gave him? Listen, if you look at what he has achieved in the sport, no. No, is what it is. I clearly feel bad for Tom that he lost money and clearly money, but we will make up for it. Tom Aspinall is a good guy.
“He has been incredible through this whole process that we have experienced. He is willing to do everything. Always fight everywhere and now he is like:” I will fight everyone. You tell me who and I will fight against them. ” So, Aspinall is great.
Tom Aspinall has only a small handful of potential opponents for his first defense as undisputed champion
With the positive comments from Dana White about Tom Aspinall and the Brit's want to remain active, it doesn't seem like fans have to wait too long to see the heavyweight champion in action.
Three names currently stand out the most as potential title challenge in the division, with Aspinall in the past only confronted one of them.
Potential challenge ranking record of the last 5 FightCiryl Gane#23-2alexander Volkov#34-1jailton Almeida#64-1
While Alexander Volkov may come from a loss for Ciryl Gane, many believe that the Russian earned it to lift his hand.
Jilton Almeida has also called for a title fight after he has put together back-to-back victories to return from his first loss in the Octagon.