UFC head, Dana White, commented on the information that Stipe Miocic refused to fight Sergey Pavlovic after Jon Jones was injured and withdrew from the title fight.
This was previously reported on the regular edition of The MMA Hour by Briton Tom Aspinall, who will fight the Russian for the interim heavyweight championship belt alongside the Russian on November 11 at UFC 295 in New York.
“Stipe shouldn’t be fighting for the interim title,” White said at a press conference in Las Vegas. “To call Stipe and offer him a fight for an interim title is a total disrespect to his credentials. John is serious, he’s going to have surgery as early as this week and then he’s going to start the process of recovery and getting back on track”
“Stipe has spent a lot of time, energy and money on this training camp and obviously he’s very upset about the situation. He’s the greatest heavyweight of all time and this fight still makes sense because it’s a legacy fight for both guys. If John beats Stipe, it will be a huge accomplishment for his career. The same is true for Stipe if he beats John and regains his title. Why would we organize anything else? Stipe Miocic in an interim title fight? That would be disrespectful.”
According to the UFC executive, Jon Jones will make a title defense against Stipe Miocic after he recovers, and the division’s interim champion will have to wait to see how this confrontation plays out.
“Jon and Stipe were supposed to fight. John got injured and will be eight or nine months out of action. Yes, Pavlovic and Aspinall will fight for the interim title and the winner will wait for the Jones and Miocic fight. We have to make that fight happen. Two of the greatest legends in the sport want to fight and the fans want to see it.”
Source: https://fighttime.ru/news/item/32989-dana-uajt-nazval-neuvazhitelnym-boj-pavlovicha-i-miochicha.html?rand=19907
