Despite being the interim champion, Rizvan Kuniev sees Tom Aspinall as No. 1 in the division and not Jon Jones.
Historically speaking, interim champions don’t get a ton of appreciation, and are seen as second-tier to the undisputed. Yet, Tom Aspinall is getting the respect from his fellow peers.
Rizvan Kuniev, who’s debuting for the promotion this Saturday at UFC on ABC 8, sees Aspinall as the “true champion” of the UFC heavyweight division, and not Jon Jones, who technically holds the undisputed belt. Kuniev (13-2-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) took things a step further and called for Jones to get stripped or to relinquish his belt, given his lack of activity, specifically not unifying the title against Aspinall.
“I think it’s time for Jon Jones to give up the belt, to relinquish the belt,” Kuniev said through an interpreter at Wednesday’s UFC on ABC 8 media day. “I think that the true champion is Tom Aspinall. I’m not sure why Jon Jones is holding up the division and why the UFC is letting him do this, why they’re letting him keep the belt.
“I think that Tom Aspinall being the true champion and not having fought for about six months already, this is way too long. The whole division is on hold. The whole division specifically, the top five, top 10, should have more fights, and there should be more movement, so we can figure out who is actually the top contender.”
Kuniev takes on veteran and former interim title challenger Curtis Blaydes (18-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) on the main card of UFC on ABC 8, which takes place at Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, Azerbaijan. It’s a rare debut, as not many newcomers get a top contender right away for their first UFC bout. Yet, Kuniev feels more than ready and is out to prove he’s an immediate threat to the title.
“I was always saying that I was ready to fight someone in the top 10 top five,” Kuniev said. “This is a big opportunity for me to fight somebody so multifaceted, so good, so high ranked. For me, this is a great opportunity to come out and show everything I said before and that I’m ready for the top 10, top five is actually true.”
