Tom Aspinall says that his division needs an injection of excitement.
The UFC interim heavyweight champion, who has been actively pursuing an undisputed title bout with Jon Jones since winning the belt in New York in November 2023, was an interested observer to the heavyweight attractions at last weekend’s UFC event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — and he wasn’t thrilled by what he saw.
The event featured a forgettable undercard heavyweight fight between Hamdy Abdelwahab and Jamal Pogues but it was more the main card bout between Sergei Pavlovich (whom Aspinall defeated to win the interim title) and Jairzinho Rozenstruik that was the source of Aspinall’s ire, in what was a muted, decision win for the Russian despite being billed as a showdown of two of the division’s foremost knockout artists.
“These heavyweight fights lately absolutely stink,” Aspinall wrote in a message to social media. “Let’s get some excitement back and stop holding it up.”
Aspinall’s message can be viewed as a thinly-veiled criticism of Jones, the heavyweight champion who has distanced himself from a fight with the Englishman in favour of pursuing so-called ‘legacy fights’ in the tail-end of his career.
However, Aspinall’s criticism seems to have been echoed in the UFC HQ in Las Vegas amid reports that Rozenstruik has been released from the promotion following his defeated to Pavlovich last weekend.
