Curtis Blaydes calls for Jon Jones to be stripped of UFC title: 'I'm over it already'

USA Today

a day ago

Curtis Blaydes calls for Jon Jones to be stripped of UFC title: 'I'm over it already'
Curtis Blaydes is fed up with the holdup at the top of the UFC heavyweight division, so much so that he's calling for the promotion to move on without one of its biggest stars.
Blaydes, a former UFC interim title challenger, thinks it's time for the UFC to strip Jon Jones of his title and carry on with the division. Blaydes believes this is long overdue and causing harm to the careers of many of the top contenders, including himself.
"Without the (title) movement, where are we going to go?" Blaydes said Wednesday at UFC on ABC 8 media day. "Like, eventually No. 5 is going to move up and get a higher opponent, No. 4, No. 3 and so on. If he doesn't fight, like I said a month ago, I would like him to be stripped. We all get it. He's the GOAT, he's great, but if you're not going to be active, what are you doing holding the belt? I get what he's doing. He enjoys this. He enjoys his name being talked about. I'm over it already. It's been ... I don't even know how long it's been since he beat Stipe, but it's been long enough. I think he should be stripped."
Jones has sparked plenty of controversy in recent years given his lack of activity as champion. He won the title in March 2023 and has only defended it once, and against Stipe Miocic, who was in his 40's and hadn't fought in three years by the time he stepped in the cage against Jones.
Meanwhile, Tom Aspinall won the UFC interim heavyweight title in November 2023 and has since defended it once against Blaydes. He's been waiting for a title unification bout with Jones.
Blaydes (18-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) returns to the cage this Saturday against promotional newcomer Rizvan Kuniev (13-2-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) on the main card of UFC on ABC 8 (ABC, ESPN, ESPN+), which takes place at Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, Azerbaijan.
"Razor" Blaydes is hopeful of one day winning the UFC title. Should the top of the division get sorted out, Blaydes sees himself two wins away from title contention.
"I view (Jones) as retired unless he proved otherwise. He's out of fights, out of mind," Blaydes said. "I'm not even thinking about Jon. That's what he wants, for people to ask, 'What do you think Jon is going to do?' I don't care. I don't care. The rest of the division, I'm looking to get someone top five after this. I need someone ranked. I need to beat a ranked opponent if I want to get a title shot, which is the goal.
"I guess it just depends on who's available. Derrick Lewis, he fights July 15 or something like that, so timewise if he wins or Sergei (Pavlovich). I lost to both of them, so a rematch with either one of them would be dope. Or even (Cyril) Gane, I've been asking for Gane. There's a lot of options. I'd be happy with someone ranked above me."