Tom Aspinall just set a record which perfectly illustrates the dysfunction of the UFC heavyweight division

For decades it has been understood that an interim champion in combat sports only serves to keep the division moving until the actual champion is able to compete to unify the belts.

In the Ultimate Fighting Championship, an interim title holder has not been forced to defend their belt since 2013, when Renan Barão defended his belt twice due to Dominick Cruz’s repeated knee injuries.

Or rather, had not defended an interim belt, until that changed in July 2024.

Yet in the case of Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall there is no lingering injury; the formerly undisputed—now disputed—champion is perfectly capable of unifying the titles with the younger British challenger.

The interim belt was originally created when ‘Bones’ tore his pectoral, forcing the light-heavyweight legend out of his first heavyweight title defense at UFC 295.

However, it belongs to Aspinall to this day, despite Jones having long since returned to competition when he fought Stipe Miocic at UFC 309.

Now at 535 days, Tom Aspinall’s interim heavyweight title reign is the longest in UFC history, surpassing Barao’s 534-day stint as interim champ at bantamweight back in 2012-13.

The promotion’s insistence on forcing him to defend that interim title against an in-form challenger while Jones waited to compete against a 42-year-old champion has led to a severely dysfunctional division.

Although Dana White has insisted for months that the fight will occur, Jones has not wavered on his position: he has no interest in fighting Tom Aspinall.

A large enough fight purse may change that, but if the promotion is at the point where a champion can refuse to fight a challenger and not be stripped, how can a division function as normal?

A 535-day interim title reign covers the vast majority of Jones’ 782-day heavyweight reign, meaning the heavyweight belt has been disputed more often than not ever since lineal champion Francis Ngannou departed the UFC.

Hopefully fans will soon receive news about the title unification bout being officially booked, a monumental fight which would be outdone in scope by few matches in MMA history.

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