Ariel Helwani: UFC Must Step In To Stop Jon Jones' Heavyweight Title Being 'Held Hostage'

During a recent episode of The MMA Hour, host Helwani was asked for his take on the ongoing sage in the heavyweight title picture. 

The Canadian reporter harked back to the creation of the interim strap late last year, stating the UFC made a mistake by not immediately stripping Jones of the belt and crowning Aspinall undisputed kingpin with his victory at Madison Square Garden.

And with Jones now turning his nose up at a unification showdown upon his return, Helwani thinks the UFC needs to take action.

"If Tom Aspinall was just the undisputed champion, you could have had him defend that title against Stipe or someone like Ciryl Gane," Helwani said. "What I would do if I was them (UFC), dating back to November, I would just have taken the belt off Jon and said, "Jon, when you are ready to come back, you will get all the benefits of being a champion, you will get all the points, you will get to fight for the belt, but we have to keep this train moving along.'

"The part that bothers me and many people about this is Jon Jones telling Tom Aspinall, 'You haven't earned this. You haven't done enough. You don't have the résumé,'" Helwani continued. "If Jon says, 'I want to fight Stipe when I'm back,' that's fine. The UFC, I think, needs to step in, for the sake of their organization, for the sake of their titles, and say, 'Look, if you want to fight Stipe, you can do it as a non-title fight.' ... Now what is happening is this belt is being held hostage because there was some promise about this fight. Fights fall through due to injuries all the time and never come to fruition! ... How long are we gonna wait? How long is Tom Aspinall gonna wait? How long is the whole division gonna wait? No one needs a title on the line when Jon Jones fights Stipe."

The debate over the heavyweight division grew further when Jones appeared to reveal his plans to retire after facing Miocic, insisting he will have nothing else to prove. In a subsequent social media post, "Bones" outlined that nothing is decided yet, aside from a rearranged collision with Miocic down the line.

Where that leaves Aspinall remains to be seen, but many are expecting him to defend his interim strap against either Ciryl Gane or the winner of Curtis Blaydes vs. Jailton Almeida in the meantime.