Leading up to this weekend’s UFC 321 card, UFC President Dana White isn’t too pleased with heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.
Ahead of his first undisputed title defense against Ciryl Gane this weekend, Aspinall revealed that if push comes to shove, he’ll relinquish the title and ride off into the sunset before fighting his longtime friend Ante Delija.
The way Aspinall sees things, he’s already reached the pinnacle of the sport, and if Delija gets to the point where he’s deserving of a title shot, then he’ll step aside so the 2022 PFL Heavyweight Tournament winner can have his time atop the division.
While speaking in an interview with TNT Sports’ Adam Catterall, Dana White revealed that he isn’t happy with the heavyweight champ:
“You know what I think about that before you even ask me. I hate that. Many friends, relatives, name it, have all fought each other before. It doesn’t determine whether you are friends with somebody or you hate somebody.
“You’re competing against them to see who the best is, but that’s his decision. If he defends the title and does whatever he does, to even think about vacating it because you don’t wanna compete against somebody is absolutely insane, but he’s a grown man, that’s up to him.”
Tom Aspinall Doubles Down on Not Wanting to Fight Ante Delija
Although plenty of teammates have shared the Octagon as foes, Tom Aspinall’s refusal to fight Ante Delija sounds reminiscent of Aljamain Sterling’s refusal to fight Merab Dvalishvili if push came to shove.
Leading up to Saturday’s card, Aspinall doubled down on his comments about not wanting to fight his longtime friend while speaking to Barstool Sports’ Spinnin Backfist:
“I definitely didn’t say that to catch headlines. There’s certain things you do say where it’s like ‘Oh that will get picked up by the media obviously,’ this wasn’t one of them. I was literally just speaking from the heart on that. I’ve got a rule, where, if guys who have been in my house, and been around my family or vice versa, that I just can’t envision myself fighting them at all.
“It’s weird, because I’m in a bit of a different position. Like, if both of us guys were kind of ready for a title shot, then we would have to fight, because it’s both of our dreams. But I’m already at the point where I am the champion, and he’s still got a few fights to go. So, if everything works out well, that’s never gonna be a problem for us, I don’t think.”
Looking at Ante Delija’s Next Fight
Leading up to Saturday’s fight between Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane, Ante Delija is sitting as the No. 9 ranked heavyweight on UFC.com.
Next Saturday, however, he will collide with No. 6 ranked heavyweight Waldo Cortes Acosta.
With a win, he could wind up skyrocketing up the heavyweight rankings. Of course, despite that, as Aspinall indicated, Delija is just 1-0 in the UFC right now. Given that, if he emerges from his upcoming bout with Cortes Acosta victorious, he’ll likely need one, or possibly even two, more fights before being in serious title talks.
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