TNT Sports deleted a controversial graphic slamming both Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic ahead of their UFC 309 main event.
The two legends of MMA do battle at Madison Square Garden in New York for the UFC heavyweight title on November 16 in a bout that was previously arranged for UFC 295 before Jones had to pull out with a pectoral injury.
Jones will make his first title defence since stepping up to heavyweight and capturing the title, while Miocic is vying to become a third-time champion.
Both have been extremely inactive, however, with Jones’ last fight his submission win over Ciryl Gane to become heavyweight champ at UFC 285 in March 2023 and Miocic not stepping into the Octagon since losing his belt to Francis Ngannou in March 2021.
In their absence, Tom Aspinall has grown into one of UFC’s top stars after three consecutive first round knockouts. The UFC interim heavyweight champion is waiting for his shot and TNT’s UFC account poked fun at Jones and Miocic in a graphic shared on Instagram.
The post, which included a tale of the tape, mentioned the lack of activity of both fighters and highlighted that Jones has gone the most days without a defence, with Miocic holding the record for the most days without fighting before a title shot.
And most damningly, on both sides of the graphic it was stated that the pair “will not fight Tom Aspinall”.
Image: TNT Sports
The graphic was up for a short while before it was deleted, but of course plenty of people had already laid eyes on it.
The content was a particularly strange move given TNT are broadcast partners of UFC and the home of all their pay-per-views in the United Kingdom.
Aspinall has been calling Jones out for a while now and is the replacement fighter should anyone pull out of the upcoming main event.
Featured Image Credit: UFC & TNT Sports
Topics: Jon Jones, UFC, Stipe Miocic, Dana White