The best UFC heavyweight champion ever is sitting on the sidelines, and the only fights that could entice him to return aren’t exactly easy to make.
Stipe Miocic hasn’t exactly been missing, but he hasn’t been around much either. The former UFC heavyweight champ is just chilling in Cleveland with his new baby and pumping out podcasts — he’s up to episode 41 as of this post with the newest episode dedicated to Taylor Swift. So check that out if you’re interested in knowing his thoughts on that.
His thoughts on his future in the UFC? Less clear. After his loss to Francis Ngannou in March of 2021, Miocic decided to take the rest of the year off and largely disappeared from the headlines, other than to pop up in the background when Jake Paul fought Tyron Woodley in Ohio. Now Stipe is back on The MMA Hour with a short list of opponents: the winner of Francis Ngannou vs. Ciryl Gane, or Jon Jones.
“I’m down, yeah,” Stipe said when asked about fighting a heavyweight Jones. “I think [Jones] wanted it or something, I don’t know the whole story but yeah, I’m down. He wants a title shot, I know he’s one of the greatest of all time, but you’ve gotta wait your order. It’d be like me going to light heavyweight and saying ‘Well I want a shot’ and skipping over him. He’d be pissed too.”
But other than that?
“I really want that trilogy fight, that was mine and I want it back.”
‘Trilogy’ was the word of the day as Miocic laid out a perfect 2022 for him: “I’d definitely get a trilogy, get my shot back at a title, get my belt back. Back to normal. Everything’s back to normal.”
Which seemed to discount the possibility of Ciryl Gane beating Francis Ngannou when they fight in January 2022. When directly asked Miocic sounded undecided on who might win.
“I don’t know. It’s a big fight,” he said. “[Ngannou] has power so it only takes one punch from him. And Ciryl, he brings it and knows how to fight.”
As for a timetable for a return, Miocic revealed he’d be heading down to Las Vegas to meet with UFC brass in December to plot out a course for the next year. We don’t know how much can come of that meeting given everything depends on who wins Ngannou vs. Gane at UFC 270.
Ngannou is on the last fight of his contract and clearly headed towards a contractual dispute with the promotion which could gum up the division pretty badly. And Jon Jones was already benched for daring to ask for more money before he got himself arrested for domestic battery, so does anyone see that resolving itself in the first half of 2022?
Stipe better cross his fingers and hope for a Gane victory.