White: Offering Miocic an interim title fight would be 'complete disrespect'
UFC CEO Dana White didn't even consider asking Stipe Miocic if he wanted to remain on the UFC 295 card after Jon Jones pulled out of their heavyweight title fight with an injury.
White said Wednesday night that offering Miocic, a former two-time champion, a fight against Sergei Pavlovich or Tom Aspinall for the interim belt would be insulting to his status as the greatest UFC heavyweight of all time.
"Stipe's not fighting for an interim title," White told reporters. "Jones said, 'I want to fight Stipe.' I said, 'You're fighting Stipe.' You have the greatest heavyweight of all time versus the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. This is a legacy fight for both of those guys. To even call Stipe and ask Stipe to fight for an interim title is complete disrespect.
"This is a fight for two legends, legacy, two of the greatest to ever do it. Fans want to see it, I want to see it, and they both want to do it."
White announced early Wednesday that Jones-Miocic was off after Jones tore his pectoral tendon in training. The fight was scheduled to headline the Nov. 11 pay-per-view event at New York's Madison Square Garden.
With Jones and Miocic removed from the card, Pavlovich and Aspinall stepped in to meet for the interim heavyweight title. The already scheduled vacant light heavyweight title bout between Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira became the new main event.
White confirmed that the UFC plans to rebook Jones-Miocic in 2024 despite the fact there will be an interim champion.
However, White isn't thinking about a time frame just yet. Jones needs surgery and is expected to be out of action for eight months.
"Obviously, Stipe's been in training camp. He's spent time, energy, and money on this thing," White said. "And when this happens, obviously he's very, very upset about it."
He added, "This fight makes sense. ... For Jon Jones to beat Stipe at heavyweight, it's massive in his career. For Stipe to beat Jon Jones and regain the heavyweight title - why would you not want to do that? Why would you want to do anything else?"