Many people are sleeping on Stipe Miocic to upset Jon Jones for the undisputed UFC heavyweight title at UFC 295 this coming November, but the former heavyweight king is reportedly in the best shape of his life entering his matchup with “Bones.”
Many fight fans were confused as to why Jones vs. Miocic was booked considering Miocic hasn’t fought since a knockout loss to Francis Ngannou back in March 2021. But after Jones pushed for the legacy fight the promotion played ball and booked the matchup for this fall. It will mark the first UFC heavyweight title defense for Jones after he won the title at UFC 285 this past March and the first fight in well over two years for Miocic.
While Jones is a betting favorite to take care of business and for good reason, it seems like fight fans are sleeping on Miocic just a little too much. Maybe it’s his care-free demeanor or unwillingness to badmouth an opponent, fight fans have forgotten how good Miocic truly is.
Ahead of his clash with Jones, Miocic has reportedly “never looked better” in training. This comes from former UFC heavyweight champion and current UFC color commentator, Daniel Cormier.
“I think the best Miocic is in the mid-240s and he’s saying now that he’s back around that weight,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “I spoke to someone in the Miocic camp and they told me he’s never looked better. He looks huge, he looks big, he looks strong. Now, is that gonna be enough? I don’t know. I’m just giving you this information. I’m pulling the curtain back so you guys can understand that expect the Stipe Miocic from the title run opposed to the guy we saw later. The small guy, the skinny guy.”
Miocic has never cared about the public perception and maybe that’s why he continues to fly under the radar. Whatever it is, Miocic seems ready to cash in on a huge fight opposite Jones and remind fight fans just how good he is.
“Stipe Miocic isn’t a guy who lives a big life publicly but he carries that chip when you start to doubt him,” Cormier said.
“I remember sitting at press conferences with Miocic and he would say these things like that. ‘Okay, doubt me,’ and he would almost smirk because he knew what most in the public didn’t know. The way he was training, the way he was preparing, and his intent in the fight. Obviously, he beat me two times back-to-back when he was saying those things and I would almost brush them off because you take his personality and you take him for granted. You forget he’s one of the most dangerous men on the planet. But again, he’s carrying that chip.”
Cormier, who ended up losing two out of three career fights to Miocic, believes that the former UFC champion will give Jones a true heavyweight fight. One that could spell the demise of either fighter.
“How does my man Jones look in an actual fight?” Cormier asked. “Because he’ll get a fight this time. He’ll have to go rounds. If he doesn’t, boy, if this guy, if either of these guys wipes the other one out it would be jaw-dropping. I would be as shocked as I was when Sean Strickland beat Israel Adesanya.”