UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is out of action — indefinitely.
Blame the dirty fingernails of Ciryl Gane, who treated Aspinall’s eyeballs the way Fast Eddie’s Balabushka treated Atlantic City 9-balls. That’s why No. 5-ranked Waldo Cortes-Acosta wants the promotion to create an interim title, a way to keep the division moving until Aspinall’s return.
“I want to fight (Alexander) Volkov or Ciryl Gane, they’re waiting,” Cortes-Acosta told Hablemos MMA (transcribed by MMA Junkie). “I assume Tom Aspinall is not fighting anytime soon, so why not put an interim title in place? Whoever wins fights the champion, should they make the rematch between Ciryl Gane and Tom Aspinall. That would be good.”
Aspinall, 32, could be facing multiple eye surgeries to correct his vision.
“Any of the two are fine,” Cortes-Acosta continued. “Any of the two can put me to fight for an interim title. For example, the UFC goes, ‘Waldo, you and Volkov fight for the interim and take on the winner of the rematch between Gane and Aspinall.‘ Or maybe the UFC goes, ‘Ciryl Gane, fight him for the interim belt, and the winner fights Tom Aspinall.’ So any of those two options are fine with me.”
And probably fine with a majority of UFC fans.
Cortes-Acosta, 34, announced himself as a serious contender for the 265-pound throne by smashing Derrick Lewis at UFC 324 last month in Las Vegas. “Salsa Boy,” who cut his teeth on Dana White’s “Contender Series” in summer 2022, is now 10-2 under the UFC banner with five knockouts.
Besides, interim titles are all the rage these days.
