A UFC Heavyweight Tournament? Who Would Not Want That?
(via BJPenn.com)
UFC President, Dana White, has the opportunity to make one of the most unprecedented moves in recent memory. The UFC currently has three contenders, all of which are current or former champions, that deserve a shot against the current Heavyweight Champion, Jon Jones. It has been postulated by Interim Heavyweight Champion, Tom Aspinall, that Dana White should create a tournament for this occasion in his post fight press conference .after UFC 304
“Why don’t we do a tournament?” Aspinall asked. “We’ll do Jon (Jones), Stipe (Miocic), me, Alex (Pereira), and do a four man tournament, two fights in one night, and let’s see who the real heavyweight champion of the world is. Like, we have the best heavyweight of all time (Miocic), the best MMA fighter of all time (Jones), the light heavyweight champion (Pereira), and me, who’s just a proxy interim champion.
There has not been a heavyweight tournament in the UFC for over 25 years, and creating a tournament involving these four fighters in New York City could very well contend as one of the biggest UFC cards of all time. On top of this, all four fighters are very popular, and have headlined some of the biggest pay-per-view cards in the promotion’s history.
First is Miocic, the former UFC Heavyweight Champion, who is currently scheduled to fight Jones for the title at Madison Square Garden in November. Stipe is regarded as the greatest heavyweight in UFC history, having the most consecutive title defenses in the division’s history with three. Despite this, Miocic is 41, and last fought against Francis N’Gannou in March 2021. There are many questions as to if he will still be able to compete at the highest level despite his age and three year layoff.
Next is Aspinall, a fighter so dominant, that he has the shortest average fight time in UFC history at a miniscule 2:02. Aspinall has completely ran through the division in a fashion so dominant that many believe that despite only holding interim gold, he is the very best heavyweight in the world. He is incredibly well rounded, having excellent speed on the feet, coupled with some of the highest grappling in the heavyweight division. The only question that fans have is if he will be able to go a full five rounds at the pace he has exhibited. He has only gone to the second round once in his UFC career, when he submitted Andrei Arlovski. If there was any fighter that could take him deep into a fight, it would likely be Jones or even Pereira.
Pereira has quickly become both one of the most accomplished and most popular fighters in the promotion. He has ascended at a rate that is nearly unprecedented, if only it were not for the ascension of Conor McGregor. Pereira is one of if not the most deadly strikers in the promotion. Pereira’s most glaring weakness is his ground game, which has been seldom tested in his UFC tenure. All three of these fighters would be the best grapplers in his career if they end up fighting, but the threat of his striking would leave nearly all of them shooting for a takedown.
Jones needs no introduction. He is regarded as the greatest mixed martial artist in history, as his only loss is by disqualification against Matt Hamill. The rule that disqualified him, the 12-6 elbow rule, has been overturned, effectively vindicating his only loss. Jones has only made one appearance in the heavyweight division, and it was quite dominant. He fought Ciryl Gane for the title in March 2023, submitting him in the first round via guillotine choke. It will be interesting to see how he would do against superior grapplers such as Aspinall or Miocic, considering the fact that Gane is a striker through and through.
Although the concept of a tournament is not something that White is interested in, the magnitude of this event would be unimaginable. The fact that the fight would occur in the mecca of sports, Madison Square Garden, would turn this into one of the most important events that the UFC could ever put on. Although the logistics of how they would do two fights in one night would have to be established, making this happen would do so much good and make so much money for the UFC.
