UPDATE: Miocic responded to Jones’ claims with a poster of the pairing saying, “See you in July” — Full details here.
Too good to be true?
Newly-crowned UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones was expected to make his first 265-pound title defense against former division champion Stipe Miocic atop the UFC 290 pay-per-view (PPV) event this summer in Las Vegas, even teasing fans with a trash-talking preview from both Jones and Miocic.
But new developments suggest Miocic may not make it to “Sin City” in July.
“Yo Stipe Miocic, only you the UFC and I know the truth, you dodged me all of 2022 — July, September and December,” Jones wrote on Twitter. “Now I’m hearing rumors that we may not be fighting this July. Bro it’s simple, either you believe in yourself or you don’t. Either you want this challenge or you don’t. Stop wasting everyone’s time.”
No Miocic is bad news for UFC fans, but great news for the winner of this fight.
The promotion has been trying to pair Jones and Miocic for several years, with the bout nearly coming to fruition in late 2017. “Bones” would later accuse Miocic of ducking him ahead of UFC 282 last Dec. and once again, the contest never materialized.
Miocic has yet to respond to this latest accusation.