What began last November as a simple two-man contest over the undisputed heavyweight championship has splintered into a quagmire involving three champions across two weight classes.
Indeed, UFC 309 headliner Jon Jones on Saturday was set to, at last, defend his UFC heavyweight crown against Stipe Miocic at Madison Square Garden — as was the plan a year ago, before a torn pectoral muscle shelved the champion.
But that left interim champion Tom Aspinall, who won his title at the Garden last year when the UFC created it to fill the void left by losing Jones-Miocic, twisting in the wind to not just find out who holds the other belt but whether either man is interested in facing him next.
Generally, the creation of an interim title leads to a swift booking of a unification bout to decide the one champion to rule them all.
Not the case here, as Aspinall kept busy with a rare interim title defense in July while Jones rehabilitated.
The Brit made it clear this week that he would not be making a second; his next fight will be for the undisputed crown, regardless of opponent.
Wide speculation had been that Jones, Miocic or both could opt to ride off into the sunset after Saturday, thus elevating Aspinall to undisputed status, UFC CEO Dana White had said.
Jones, speaking with The Post in the leadup to UFC 309, suggested he would be much more intrigued to face Alex Pereira — the champion at light heavyweight, the division Jones lorded over for the vast majority of his illustrious but controversial career — than Aspinall.
White on Friday assured Jones he could have his dessert … as long as he takes his medicine.
“If he beats Tom Aspinall, then yes, I would do the Alex Pereira fight,” White said during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” with the unsaid caveat being Jones first defeats Miocic, who arrived in New York this week as the former two-time heavyweight champion.
The UFC figurehead has been a dogged proponent of Jones as his promotion’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter and, throughout the year, has adamantly defended keeping Jones-Miocic together instead of pivoting to Jones-Aspinall.
That’s not to be mistaken for having too soft a spot for the gifted fighter who’s clashed several times with the promotion and found himself in both legal and regulatory trouble since his initial rise as light heavyweight champion 13 years ago.
At the end of the day, the four-man mess can’t linger for much longer.
“Obviously, a guy like Jon Jones has had a career where, if he wants something, we would do it,” White said. “But you can’t just do a fun fight and not fight the interim heavyweight champion, the guy who is next. … Opportunities were given to Jon Jones. He was 23, he was the youngest champion of all time. Now, as he sits where he sits, it’s his obligation to give it to the younger guy, to give him that opportunity.”
Jones, 37, remains relatively young compared to the 42-year-old Miocic, who had been out of competition since losing the heavyweight crown to Francis Ngannou in March 2021.
At 31, Aspinall is one of the youngest big men remotely close to the top of this division.
Aspinall, who on Friday weighed in as the backup fighter in the event that catastrophe struck either Jones or Miocic and forced him out of Saturday’s main event, told The Post during a Thursday studio interview that, as much as the Jones fight interests him, he yearns for the close of this fractured chapter in the division’s history Saturday night.
“I’m just looking forward to this fight being done,” Aspinall said. “Everything will be clear in just a couple of days’ time, and we’ll all move forward.”
