Dana White is hopeful for an eventual heavyweight title unification bout following UFC 295 shakeup: “To be the man, you’ve got to beat the man”

UFC CEO Dana White hopes to see a heavyweight title unification bout one day between the winners of Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic and Tom Aspinall vs Sergei Pavlovich.

Heading into UFC 295, the promotion’s heavyweight division is a bit of a mess. Jon Jones was initially scheduled to defend his undisputed belt against Stipe Miocic in the main event, but an injury has forced him out. Now, instead, we’ll see Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall competing for the interim championship in the co-main event.

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While fans had plenty of different theories regarding how this would all work out, the popular thought was that this would essentially turn into an unconventional four-man tournament. As per Dana White, that’s what he seems to be shooting for.

White clears up Jones/Miocic/Aspinall/Pavlovich situation

“One hundred percent (the winner will have to wait for Jones vs. Miocic to happen),” White said. “So here’s the deal: Jones and Stipe were supposed to fight. Jones gets hurt, right? Eight, nine months he’s going to be out. You don’t strip him or take him out of the rankings after a year, right?

“So, if you’re Sergei and Aspinall, you’re getting the opportunity to fight for the interim title anyway now. So, yeah, they’re going to have to wait until this fight happens. This fight was set up; this fight needs to happen. Two of the biggest legends in the sport want the fight, (and) the fans want the fight.”

“To be the man, you’ve got to beat the man. So whoever wins that fight, it would be nice to see them stick around and defend it,” White said. “That we can’t determine until it happens.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie

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