Interim UFC heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall has been sidelined for ten months waiting for a title unification bout against champion Jon Jones to materialize. The Englishman has been calling to unify the belts since winning the interim championship in November 2023.
The situation has been frustrating for Aspinall and his team. The fight promotion has worked hard to finalize the fight but have yet to close the deal. Former two-division champion and UFC Hall of Famer Georges St-Pierre offered some advice for the interim titleholder.
“I think Tommy needs to focus on the next task,” St-Pierre said on The Ariel Helwani Show. “I remember when I lost to Matt Serra I was making the mistake of trying to focus on Matt Serra to get my revenge immediately but I had a few other fights lined up before to get to that. And if he’s only focusing on Jon Jones, and if Jon Jones does not come back right away, he’s not focusing on the right thing.
“He needs to focus on that what is next, the next path because the rest is a distraction. Things that need to be done will be done. I don’t know what Jon will do,” he continued.
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“As a fan, I would love to see this fight because in terms of legacy and accomplishment, Jon Jones is the best. And I understand Tom and his point of view. He’s a proud fighter. He wants to beat the best but now it all depends on what Jon wants to do. If Jon still wants to do this. If he’s compensated fairly. All that plays, so Tom should not focus on that because it’s outside of his control. He’s wasting a lot of energy focusing on that. I know it’s very hard, but he needs to sort of self-hypnose himself to focus on the next thing and be hungry about the next task.”
