There is once again a light at the end of the tunnel for those still waiting to see Jon Jones fight Stipe Miocic.
The UFC heavyweight champion will face the former titleholder at UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden on November 16. Dana White told ComplexThe UFC president declined to commit to anything after the fight, but said he expected Jones to want to fight his main challenger Tom Aspinall if he wins, rather than retire.
From the complex:
“Jon Jones is going to fight at Madison Square Garden in November. And if he wins, or if Stipe wins, we’ll see what happens next. Whoever retires, it doesn’t matter. Do I think Stipe will retire? I think he will. I think he will. But you never know. Stipe might want to take the challenge, but I know for a fact that if Jon Jones wins this fight and all these rumors are going around, there’s no way he’s not going to fight Aspinall.”
Simply put, the Jones-Miocic fight has been a long time coming, to the point that it has eroded the prestige of the UFC heavyweight belt for some.
Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic’s second meeting
Jones defeated Ciryl Gane to win the vacant belt in March 2023He immediately called out Miocic, who had lost the belt to Francis Ngannou two years earlier, and the fight was officially announced for November 11 at UFC 295 the following JulyThat fight was abandoned in October, when Jones It was revealed that he had torn his pectoral muscle, requiring surgeryIt took almost a year for the fight to get its next date.
Jones and Miocic have each fought once in the last four years and are now 37 and 42, respectively. Gane is the only individual among the UFC’s top five heavyweight contenders to have defeated either.
Meanwhile, Tom Aspinall has rocketed up the rankings and now holds the interim belt. Usually, an interim belt is a ticket to the next title shot, but White has asked Aspinall to defend it against Curtis Blaydes instead. Aspinall is now ahead of Jones in several heavyweight rankings and has repeatedly pushed Jones to give him a shot over the aging Miocic.
Despite the criticism, White has stood firm on the Jones-Miocic plan, determined to pit what many consider the greatest MMA fighter of all time against the UFC’s greatest heavyweight of all time. Barring injury, of course.
Speaking of waiting a very long time for a fight, UFC 309 will also see Michael Chandler face Charles OliveiraIt’s been nearly two years since Chandler last fought at UFC 281 in November 2022, with the fighter having waited that entire time for a fight against Conor McGregor that also went up in smoke.
