Tom Aspinall says that his division wants an injection of pleasure.
The UFC interim heavyweight champion, who has been actively pursuing an undisputed title bout with Jon Jones since successful the belt in New York in November 2023, was an observer to the heavyweight sights eventually weekend’s UFC occasion in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — and he wasn’t thrilled by what he noticed.
The occasion featured a forgettable undercard heavyweight combat between Hamdy Abdelwahab and Jamal Pogues nevertheless it was extra the principle card bout between Sergei Pavlovich (whom Aspinall defeated to win the interim title) and Jairzinho Rozenstruik that was the supply of Aspinall’s ire, in what was a muted, determination win for the Russian regardless of being billed as a showdown of two of the division’s foremost knockout artists.
“These heavyweight fights recently completely stink,” Aspinall wrote in a message to social media. “Let’s get some pleasure again and cease holding it up.”
Aspinall’s message may be considered as a thinly-veiled criticism of Jones, the heavyweight champion who has distanced himself from a combat with the Englishman in favour of pursuing so-called ‘legacy fights’ within the tail-end of his profession.
Nevertheless, Aspinall’s criticism appears to have been echoed within the UFC HQ in Las Vegas amid stories that Rozenstruik has been launched from the promotion following his defeated to Pavlovich final weekend.