Dana White finally confirms Tom Aspinall’s heavyweight title shot and announces when it will happen

Dana White recently cleared the air on why he offered Stipe Miocic a heavyweight title shot and confirmed Tom Aspinall is next in line.

Many fans have been criticizing the UFC CEO for granting undeserving title shots while contenders have to wait in line and defend interim belts.

Since Jon Jones pulled out of UFC 295 due to a pectoral injury, the heavyweight landscape has been in disarray, with contenders vying for the right to fight for the title without success. On the same card, Aspinall won the interim heavyweight championship, which he successfully defended at UFC 304.

Talking with MMA journalist Kevin Lole, White clarified the promotional stance and declared Aspinall as the next title challenger. Furthermore, he claimed the reason Miocic was given the opportunity, despite being inactive for more than two years, was "out of respect":

"You have two sides of the coin – you get everybody talking about 'Oh Dana doesn’t respect this guy and, he doesn’t do this, he doesn’t do that.' I’m showing [Jones and Miocic] the respect. They wanna fight each other. It’s a fight that they both want to happen. It's total respect fight. I think they both deserved it. At the end of the day I get it, everybody wants to see Tom Aspinall, but let me tell you what... whoever wins, Aspinall fights the winner."

Check out Dana White's thoughts on the heavyweight championship situation:

Meanwhile, the 31-year-old Aspinall has been quietly winning and going about his business. Some have criticized his attitude and want the Brit to be more abrasive in his quest for gold.

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Dana White explodes after Jon Jones is not the top pound-for-pound fighter in the rankings

Dana White is seething at the pound-for-pound rankings, as promotional heavyweight champion Jon Jones hasn't topped the list. The UFC CEO has frequently described 'Bones' as the pound-for-pound No.1 fighter in the world, despite Jones having not fought in over a year.

White claimed whoever made the list "knows nothing about fighting," despite the list being released by his own company. Jones was ranked third on the list, trailing only reigning lightweight king Islam Makhachev and two-division champion Alex Pereira. Speaking with Kevin Lole, the 55-year-old White said:

"Jon Jones is ranked No.3 pound-for-pound in the world. That's the most f***ing ridiculous, embarrassing, stupid, know nothing about f***ing fighting ranking of all f***ing time."

Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic is forecast to take place at UFC 309 on Nov. 16 in Madison Square Garden. The winner will potentially take on Tom Aspinall for the heavyweight championship.