Initially earmarked to take main event honors at UFC 290 during International Fight Week during July, an undisputed heavyweight championship fight between Jon Jones, and former two-time weight class gold holder, Stipe Miocic is now reportedly unlikely to take place at the blockbuster summer card.
As per an initial report from ESPN reporter, Marc Raimondi, a targeted heavyweight title fight between newly crowned champion, Jon Jones, and the current #2 ranked contender, Stipe Miocic will not take place at the UFC 290 pay-per-view event despite interest, with a potential matchup between the duo likely to be pushed back into the fall.
Jon Jones, Stipe Miocic title fight hits the skids for summer event
“I’ve seen several tweets talking about (Jon) Jones vs. (Stipe) Miocic at UFC 290 in July,” Raimondi tweeted. “That’s still the fight all parties want next, but it won’t happen in July and hasn’t really been discussed for July in a while. Much more likely now for the fall.”
Headlining UFC 285 back in March, Jones, a former two-time undisputed light heavyweight champion to boot, took the vacant heavyweight title with a dominant opening round submission win over former interim titleholder, Ciryl Gane, subimtting the Frenchman with a guillotine choke.
Himself sidelined since March 2021, Ohio favorite, Miocic dropped his undisputed heavyweight title in a stunning second round knockout loss to former undisputed champion, Francis Ngannou at the UFC Apex facility in the pair’s title rematch.
Today’s reports come off the back of comments from UFC president, Dana White after UFC 287, who claimed that Endicott native, Jon Jones had “disappeared” since winning the vacant heavyweight crown against Gane last month.
At the time of publication, a featherweight championship unification bout between champion, Alexander Volkanovski, and interim gold holder, Yair Rodríguez has been booked for UFC 290 in July.
And today, UFC Chief Business Officer, Hunter Campbell confirmed how a flyweight title fight between Brandon Moreno, and Alexandre Pantoja would also feature on the International Fight Week card.