Tom Aspinall makes his opinion clear on Stipe Miocic’s strongest route to victory against Jon Jones at UFC 309: “It’s pretty simple"
Stipe Miocic has not set foot inside the octagon since 2021 and will return to face Jon Jones at UFC 309 in a highly anticipated bout. Ahead of his title fight, the division's interim champion, Tom Aspinall, shared the strategy he believes would best serve the title challenger.
Miocic is known for his crisp boxing skillset, and Aspinall believes that the former champion should go straight for the kill when he comes up against 'Bones'.
The 42-year-old last competed against Francis Ngannou at UFC 260, where he suffered a brutal knockout loss. It will be fascinating to see if Miocic will be gun-shy upon his return, given both his time away from fighting and the result of his previous bout.
Ahead of UFC 309, Aspinall was interviewed by Red Corner MMA, during which he broke down the title challenger's best route to success:
"It's pretty simple, punch him in the face really hard. That's the way he's gonna win. Stipe has got a lot of knockouts on his record. We don't know if Jones' power, he's not really known for his power anyway, how does that look at heavyweight? It's still a bit of a question mark, whereas we know Stipe, even at 42 or 43 years old...we think he still has that power."
Catch Aspinall's comments about Stipe Miocic's below (1:35):
Stipe Miocic responds to critics calling for Tom Aspinall to fight Jon Jones instead of him
After Jon Jones was forced out of his UFC 295 clash with Stipe Miocic due to a torn pectoral tendon, Tom Aspinall stepped up on short notice to face Sergei Pavlovich for the interim title instead. The Manchester native secured a first-round knockout win.
Given the impressive performance, fans called for a clash between Jones and the interim champion instead of 'Bones' facing the 42-year-old.
After the original UFC 295 main event was rescheduled for UFC 309, there was backlash from fans, which Miocic addressed during an interview with MMA Fighting:
"It wasn’t my choice. It’s a fight I wanted, and the UFC gave it to me. They didn’t have to. They gave it to me... I believe people want to see that, I think a lot more people want to see [me vs. Jones] than to see me fight Aspinall."
Catch Stipe Miocic's comments below (8:05):