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Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Michael Bisping chides Jon Jones for holding up UFC, Tom Aspinall: 'Defend or vacate'
UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping says it's time for heavyweight champion Jon Jones to defend or move on. Frustrations with Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) and his potential title unification bout against interim champion Tom Aspinall have been boiling over recently. The calls for Jones to either put his belt on the line against Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) have grown louder after the UFC officially announced the future slate of pay-per-view main events into the summer, which did not include the heavyweight title fight. While Aspinall has repeatedly voiced his frustration with the situation, Jones, who defended the heavyweight title for the first time against Stipe Miocic last July at UFC 304, has been publicly dismissive. "Bones" has even hinted that retirement is a strong possibility, while posting videos on social media of having fun in various locations. "That's great for him. That's all well and good, but if you're the heavyweight champion of the world, then you have an obligation to the sport, the fans, to the other fighters in the divsion," Bisping told MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn on "The Bohnfire." "Live your life, and if you are somewhat retired, just be honest and come out and say it. "Obviously, Dana (White) has been very adamant that the fight is going ahead. So I think maybe it's just Jon messing with Tom psychologically because he's a master of his craft, and he knows what he's doing. If he's not, and he has no intention of fighting, and he's just stringing it out for a while because he wants to hang on to the belt, then that's appalling to be quite frank." Aspinall became the interim heavyweight champion by knocking out Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 294 in November 2023. With a title unification out of the picture, Aspinall was put in a position to defend the interim title, which he did successfully by stopping Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 last July. Nearly a year later, Aspinall has no clue what's next. "I feel for Tom here because Tom is in the prime of his life," Bisping said. "He's an absolutely incredible fighter. He's just dispatching of everybody with ease. He's the best finisher in all the sport right now, and he's in the prime. He should be fighting every few months. Every six months at least. Every four or five months, he should be back in there building his legacy and making money and just doing what he was put on this earth to do – what he's trained an entire life for. Yet, he's just sitting around on the sidelines waiting and waiting and waiting. "So, I'm sure it's extremely frustrating for Tom, the fans – because I've said this for a long time: I think Tom smokes him. I do. And I think Jon is probably very conscious of that threat as well. I'm not saying he doesn't think he can win, but he understands that this will be a tough fight, but they're all tough fights. They're all supposed to be tough fights." If Jones does decide to continue fighting, Bisping believes Jones should reflect upon his days as an up-and-coming light heavyweight contender. Immediately after beating Ryan Bader at UFC 126, it was announced he would fight for Mauricio Rua's title at UFC 128 just over a month later. Jones won the title to become the youngest UFC champion ever. He then recorded his first title defense six months later. Things moved very quickly for Jones in his early days as a champion, and Bisping would like to see that be repaid to Aspinall. "For Jon to not want to give this guy an opportunity where other people gave him an opportunity – he was the youngest champion in this sport, and he's always talking about there's always going to be younger guys coming along – well, what about when you were fighting for the belt and you were the youngest person to ever do it?" Bisping said. "You got that opportunity. When you become the champion, there is an obligation to do that. So, defend or vacate. It's that simple. "All these cryptic tweets and going out to Thailand and living his best life and sh*t, great. If that's what you want to do, go off and enjoy your life, but do the decent thing." This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Micahel Bisping wants Jon Jones to meet obligations as UFC champion
USA Today
24-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Michael Bisping chides Jon Jones for holding up UFC, Tom Aspinall: 'Defend or vacate'
Michael Bisping chides Jon Jones for holding up UFC, Tom Aspinall: 'Defend or vacate' UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping says it's time for heavyweight champion Jon Jones to defend or move on. Frustrations with Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) and his potential title unification bout against interim champion Tom Aspinall have been boiling over recently. The calls for Jones to either put his belt on the line against Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) have grown louder after the UFC officially announced the future slate of pay-per-view main events into the summer, which did not include the heavyweight title fight. While Aspinall has repeatedly voiced his frustration with the situation, Jones, who defended the heavyweight title for the first time against Stipe Miocic last July at UFC 304, has been publicly dismissive. "Bones" has even hinted that retirement is a strong possibility, while posting videos on social media of having fun in various locations. "That's great for him. That's all well and good, but if you're the heavyweight champion of the world, then you have an obligation to the sport, the fans, to the other fighters in the divsion," Bisping told MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn on "The Bohnfire." "Live your life, and if you are somewhat retired, just be honest and come out and say it. "Obviously, Dana (White) has been very adamant that the fight is going ahead. So I think maybe it's just Jon messing with Tom psychologically because he's a master of his craft, and he knows what he's doing. If he's not, and he has no intention of fighting, and he's just stringing it out for a while because he wants to hang on to the belt, then that's appalling to be quite frank." Aspinall became the interim heavyweight champion by knocking out Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 294 in November 2023. With a title unification out of the picture, Aspinall was put in a position to defend the interim title, which he did successfully by stopping Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 last July. Nearly a year later, Aspinall has no clue what's next. "I feel for Tom here because Tom is in the prime of his life," Bisping said. "He's an absolutely incredible fighter. He's just dispatching of everybody with ease. He's the best finisher in all the sport right now, and he's in the prime. He should be fighting every few months. Every six months at least. Every four or five months, he should be back in there building his legacy and making money and just doing what he was put on this earth to do – what he's trained an entire life for. Yet, he's just sitting around on the sidelines waiting and waiting and waiting. "So, I'm sure it's extremely frustrating for Tom, the fans – because I've said this for a long time: I think Tom smokes him. I do. And I think Jon is probably very conscious of that threat as well. I'm not saying he doesn't think he can win, but he understands that this will be a tough fight, but they're all tough fights. They're all supposed to be tough fights." If Jones does decide to continue fighting, Bisping believes Jones should reflect upon his days as an up-and-coming light heavyweight contender. Immediately after beating Ryan Bader at UFC 126, it was announced he would fight for Mauricio Rua's title at UFC 128 just over a month later. Jones won the title to become the youngest UFC champion ever. He then recorded his first title defense six months later. Things moved very quickly for Jones in his early days as a champion, and Bisping would like to see that be repaid to Aspinall. "For Jon to not want to give this guy an opportunity where other people gave him an opportunity – he was the youngest champion in this sport, and he's always talking about there's always going to be younger guys coming along – well, what about when you were fighting for the belt and you were the youngest person to ever do it?" Bisping said. "You got that opportunity. When you become the champion, there is an obligation to do that. So, defend or vacate. It's that simple. "All these cryptic tweets and going out to Thailand and living his best life and sh*t, great. If that's what you want to do, go off and enjoy your life, but do the decent thing."
USA Today
20-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Video: Rankings the greatest UFC welterweight champions after Jack Della Maddalena's win
Video: Rankings the greatest UFC welterweight champions after Jack Della Maddalena's win The history of the UFC welterweight championship is as rich as any weight class in the promotion's history. Following Jack Della Maddalena's title win over Belal Muhammad at UFC 315 this month, there have now been 13 different men who have held the undisputed strap at 170 pounds. Of those 13 fighters, seven are currently members of the UFC Hall of Fame: The longest-reigning champion in divisional history Georges St-Pierre, inaugural titleholder Pat Miletich, the highly decorated Matt Hughes, B.J. Penn, Matt Serra and Robbie Lawler. There could be more on the way to the UFC Hall of Fame, too, with former champions Tyron Woodley and Kamaru Usman holding a legacy that could potentially land them a spot. The remaining names to spend a time on top included Muhammad, Leon Edwards, Johny Hendricks and Carlos Newton. How do you dissect a hierarchy of all-time greatness in such a storied division, though? MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn and longtime MMA analyst Luke Thomas attempted to rank the champions from top to bottom. Check out the video above to see Bohn and Thomas offer their rankings on "The Bohnfire" podcast.
USA Today
07-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Analyst: Pissed off champ Valentina Shevchenko beats Manon Fiorot at UFC 315
Analyst: Pissed off champ Valentina Shevchenko beats Manon Fiorot at UFC 315 Michelle Waterson-Gomez thinks it was a bad idea for Manon Fiorot to fuel the fire underneath Valentina Shevchenko going into UFC 315. In her pursuit to secure Saturday's women's flyweight title shot against Shevchenko (24-4-1 MMA, 13-3-1 UFC) at Bell Centre in Montreal (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+), the streaking Fiorot (12-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) claimed she would retire from MMA if she falls short of gold, and that the champion isn't the dominant force she used to be. Shevchenko told MMA Junkie she expects Fiorot to honor those words if she fails this weekend, and intends to make it definitive. For UFC analyst Waterson-Gomez, seeing that extra edge around Shevchenko is a promising sign going into the fight. "I think Shevchenko is going to secure the win," Waterson-Gomez told MMA Junkie. "I think Shevchenko is a little more well-rounded when it comes to MMA, and super heavy top pressure. If she has to she'll get it there. And I do think that she's motivated because she thinks Manon is like insincere about where she sits in terms of the type of fighter she is. She doesn't know if she's a respectful fighter or she's a talking sh*t kind of fighter, so I do think it kind of pisses Shevchenko off a little bit." Fiorot enters UFC 315 as the betting favorite, marking the first time Shevchenko has been the underdog entering a fight as titleholder. Despite that, Waterson-Gomez said she still sees Shevchenko as holding the upper hand, and would be somewhat surprised if Fiorot walked away with the gold. "I don't think I've seen enough of Manon to think she's the biggest threat," Waterson-Gomez said. "Shevchenko has been up against the best of the best in the entire division, and up a weight class. I think the biggest threat Manon has to offer is her speed. Her speed and her youth. She's fast, but it's not like Shevchenko hasn't been up against girls that are fast." To hear more from Waterson-Gomez, check out her complete appearance on "The Bohnfire" podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn above.
USA Today
05-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Din Thomas questions if ex-UFC champ Kamaru Usman 'has the knees' to beat Joaquin Buckley
Din Thomas questions if ex-UFC champ Kamaru Usman 'has the knees' to beat Joaquin Buckley Din Thomas would like to see one of the all-time greats Kamaru Usman bounce back against Joaquin Buckley in the UFC on ESPN 69 main event, but he has his concerns. Usman (20-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) will return to competition for the first time since October 2023 when he meets Buckley (22-6 MMA, 11-4 UFC) in the main event of the June 14 card at State Farm Arena in Atlanta (ESPN, ESPN+). The former welterweight champion is on a three-fight losing skid, albeit with two losses against Leon Edwards in title fights and another against Khamzat Chimaev on short notice. Turning 38 on May 11, there are valid questions about what more Usman can achieve. He has been open about his struggles getting healthy enough to compete, and UFC analyst Thomas sees it as a tall task to shut down the momentum of a streaking Buckley, who has won his past six fights with four knockouts. "I just don't know," Thomas told MMA Junkie. "This MMA game is brutal. Everyone says I'm being a hater. I'm not being a hater. I just know how brutal it is. For as much as I would like to see Kamaru go out there and do good things, I just don't know if he has the knees. I don't know if he has the knees to do it. "Initially when I first saw the matchup, I said, 'I like Kamaru in this.' Then I started thinking about it and I'm like, 'Wait a minute, what am I saying to myself? Did I not see Joaquin Buckley do what he did to an aging Colby Covington?' And Joaquin Buckley, he moves well. He's fast. He's aggressive." Buckley, No. 5 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie welterweight rankings, is undefeated in five fights since dropping down from 185 pounds, beating Colby Covington, Stephen Thompson and Vicente Luque as part of his current streak. The brash and outspoken 31-year-old looks like he is in peak form for a title run, and it's Usman's job to derail that and show he's still more than his current No. 8 ranking. Only the fight will determine what Usman really has left, but Thomas worries about that part of the narrative. Thomas said that while Usman can certainly win, he can't manufacture the type of drive that Buckley has as the younger and less decorated athlete. Ultimately, he anticipated that might make the difference. "He's more than anything else, hungry for the opportunity," Thomas said. "He's hungry to show what he can do. You've got a guy like Kamaru Usman, who is not really that hungry because he's already been fed. He ate already. He's just trying to get seconds. He's older. I don't know. I'm hoping he can go out there and put on a good fight, but I don't now. I don't see it." To hear more from Thomas, check out his complete appearance on "The Bohnfire" podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn in the video above.
