Dana White is not a fan of Tom Aspinall willing to vacate his UFC heavyweight title so his teammate can have his own shot at gold.
Earlier this month, Aspinall was asked about the possibility of fighting friend and current teammate, Ante Delija, at some point in the future. Delija is a former PFL heavyweight tournament winner and is coming off an incredible UFC debut knockout over Marcin Tybura this past September. He’s a potential contender down the line if he’s able to win a few more fights, but Aspinall would
rather relinquish his UFC heavyweight title than ever fight Delija.
“He’s potentially 2-3 wins from a title shot… I wouldn’t fight him. There’s some stuff that’s more important than money and titles,” said Aspinall.
While it’s admirable that Aspinall values his friendship with Delija over his UFC heavyweight title, the comment was not taken well by UFC brass. White, who is speaking with media this week to promote Aspinall’s title defense against Ciryl Gane this Saturday at UFC 321, was asked about Aspinall’s stance on not fighting Delija and didn’t seem too happy.
“You know what I think about that before you even ask me,” said White during an interview with TNT Sports. “I hate that. Many friends, relatives, name it, have all fought each other before. It doesn’t determine whether you are friends with somebody or you hate somebody. You’re competing against someone to see who the best is, but that’s his decision.
“These guys, you become a world champion, and if he defends the title and does whatever he does, to even think about vacating it because you don’t want to compete against somebody is absolutely insane, but he’s a grown man, that’s up to him.”
It will be interesting to see how this plays out if there is every a time when a matchup between Aspinall and Delija makes sense, but it’s probably a long ways off. First, Aspinall must get through Gane this weekend in Abu Dhabi and then maybe plot out a White House showdown with Jon Jones for 2026. Delija, who is just 1-0 inside of the Octagon, is currently scheduled to fight Waldo Cortes-Acosta at UFC Vegas 110 next weekend.
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