Former UFC fighter Ben Askren thinks Dana White's comments on the issues in boxing make no sense while he refuses to make the biggest fight at heavyweight.
One topic that has remained at the surface in 2024 is Jon Jones' return from injury. His first title defense was originally set to come against Stipe Miocic at last November's UFC 295 event at Madison Square Garden.
After injury forced "Bones" out, an interim champion was crowned in his absence. Tom Aspinall's triumph over Sergei Pavlovich added a second titleholder to the division and appeared to set up a unification showdown with Jones.
But both the Rochester native and the UFC have remained firm on rescheduling the Miocic matchup in spite of Aspinall's gold, and that appears to still be the case following the Brit's successful defense against Curtis Blaydes last month in Manchester.
Plenty in the community have spoken out against plans for Jones and Miocic to meet toward the end of this year, citing the heavyweight legend's inactivity to insist that a clash with Aspinall is more intriguing.
And according to one former fighter, the promotion's rejection of that goes directly against the UFC CEO's frequent comments about what sets his organization apart from boxing's politics...
Askren On Jones vs. Aspinall Delay: 'The Fact That Dana's Playing Along...'
During the latest episode of his Funky and the Champ YouTube show alongside Daniel Cormier, Askren gave his latest take on the heavyweight title picture.
"Funky," a former Bellator and ONE Championship kingpin, pointed to the UFC's claim of putting on the biggest and best fights in comparison to boxing, a sport that White has often criticized for its politics and failure to pair the top names against one another.
By not staging Jones vs. Aspinall, however, Askren believes White and the UFC is abandoning that principle.
I almost feel like maybe Jon's got some dirt on Dana or something," Askren said. "Dana generally would not put up with this type of behavior. He would say — and this is what the UFC's been founded on where boxing wasn't — 'we want the best guys to fight. We want to see who the actual best guy is. We don't want to waste time with shenanigans. We don't want to pad records...we don't do that; that's what boxing does. In the UFC, we put the best guys in there, we see who wins.'
The fact that Dana's playing along and letting him and Stipe fight — Stipe's gonna be close to four years (since his last fight). And you have this young interim champion — I mean, he's a beast, he smashes people," Askren continued. "The fact they won't put them in there together — and then there's this obvious (chance) that Jon beats Stipe and then says, 'I'm done, I'm gone,' and then we never get to see that. ... Dana almost always presses these issues with the best guys.
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After pausing his pursuit of Jones and focusing on retaining his belt and securing redemption against Blaydes on home soil, Aspinall turned his attention back to the all-time great following his quick triumph.
And the interim champ has since vowed not to return unless undisputed status is on the line.