Tag: Stipe Miocic

Jon Jones walks back UFC 290 return against Stipe Miocic in July: ‘That was kinda just sprung on me’

Jon Jones UFC 290 Stipe Miocic sprung on meRecently minted undisputed UFC heavyweight champion, Jon Jones has claimed that a return date at International Fight Week in July to face off with former division titleholder, Stipe MIocic was “kinda sprung” on him, and admits he needs to first talk to his team regarding a comeback. Snapping a three-year plus hiatus from the Octagon […]

Jon Jones UFC 290 Stipe Miocic sprung on me

Recently minted undisputed UFC heavyweight champion, Jon Jones has claimed that a return date at International Fight Week in July to face off with former division titleholder, Stipe MIocic was “kinda sprung” on him, and admits he needs to first talk to his team regarding a comeback.

Snapping a three-year plus hiatus from the Octagon last weekend atop a UFC 285 pay-per-view card, Jones managed to clinch the vacant heavyweight championship with a stunning opening round guillotine choke win over former interim champion, Ciryl Gane. 

In the immediate aftermath of his victory, Jones, who declared himself as the greatest of all time – called out the consensus greatest heavyweight of all time in the form of Miocic – who was sitting front and center at the T-Mobile Arena in attendance.

Urging the Ohio native to take time from his job as a fireman to focus on a July return against him, Jones was targeted initially to feature atop UFC 290 this summer in the first week of July, however, took to Twitter to walk back a quickfire turnaround.

“More than likely,” Jon Jones tweeted of an International Fight Week comeback. “Felt like that was kind of sprung on me. Need to talk with my team/UFC and come up with a plan.” 

Denying former two-time heavyweight champion, Miocic has regressed since dropping the undisputed title to former gold holder, Francis Ngannou back in early 2021, Jones claims the Euclid veteran is “better than he’s ever been”.

Jon Jones believes Stipe Miocic is “better than he’s ever been”

“In my head he’s (Stipe Miocic) better than he’s ever been,” Jon Jones tweeted. “He’s definitely a lot more experienced and well-rounded then (sic) (Ciryl) Gane. This is an extremely important fight for both of our legacies, I must treat it as such.” 

Coach confirms Jon Jones will likely walk away from MMA soon: ‘He won’t have too much more to prove’

Jon Jones UFC 285 Brandon GibsonThe newly crowned UFC heavyweight champion once again sits atop the pound-for-pound rankings, but Jon Jones may not be here to stay. A three-year hiatus and many new faces and champions in the UFC since Jones vacated his light heavyweight title, did not slow him down from submitting Ciryl Gane in just minutes, a fighter […]

Jon Jones UFC 285 Brandon Gibson

The newly crowned UFC heavyweight champion once again sits atop the pound-for-pound rankings, but Jon Jones may not be here to stay.

A three-year hiatus and many new faces and champions in the UFC since Jones vacated his light heavyweight title, did not slow him down from submitting Ciryl Gane in just minutes, a fighter who’s never been finished before.

Speaking with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, his veteran coach Brandon Gibson did not hesitate at suggesting Jon Jones’ illustrious career may soon come to a close, regardless of his brief time at heavyweight.

“I think Jon’s (Jones) going to be one of those athletes that walks away early,” Gibson explained. “He’s going to walk away early, I think so. I think Jon will ride off into the sunset, and us, as MMA fans, will still be clamoring for one more or talking about potential matchups.”

This may come as a surprise to some, but during the UFC 285 post-fight press conference, both Dana White and Jon Jones himself said that they don’t really have a plan for the future, and all he knows is that he has at least one more fight left in him.

While he may only be 35, which is often a common age in the heavyweight division, Jones has been a recognizable face in the UFC since his debut in 2008, becoming the youngest-ever champion at 23, a record which still stands to this day.

Making easy work of several iconic UFC legends throughout his journey, with an incredible 15-0 record in UFC title fights, Jones has undoubtedly cemented himself as the greatest fighter we have ever seen.

As for who that next opponent may be, Jones made it clear in his post-fight scrum that he’s only thinking about a fight with Stipe Miocic, a man who he declared as the greatest heavyweight of all time.

Gibson says he and Jones’ team are in favour of this matchup, and fully support the idea of returning as soon as July.

“I think it would’ve been a different conversation if [Jones] would’ve been in any way injured or scathed on Saturday night, but he said he was more sore (sic) from the warmup than the fight.”

The now 40-year-old Miocic was in attendance at UFC 285 and he entertained the idea of fighting Jon Jones to regain his title, which was taken from him by Francis Ngannou in 2021.

Stipe Miocic confident of snatching Jon Jones’ heavyweight title at UFC 290

When asked if defeating Miocic was worthy enough to hang up the gloves, Gibson says that although he thinks Jones will soon be retired, the mood within the camp is overly positive, and the possibilities of what’s to come are limitless.

“I don’t know. He has a lot of fire, I think he has a lot of motivation, and I’ll leave that up to Jon,” Gibson said. “I think this time away was really good for him, and us as a team.”

Will Jon Jones’ journey come to an end sooner than we think?

Jon Jones huge betting favorite to defeat Stipe Miocic in expected UFC 290 championship battle

Jon Jones UFC 290 Stipe MiocicOff the back of his spectacular vacant heavyweight championship victory at UFC 285 last weekend, former light heavyweight kingpin, Jon Jones has opened as quite the massive betting favorite to defeat former two-time heavyweight best, Stipe Miocic, ahead of a targeted UFC 290 clash in July. Jones, the newly-minted undisputed heavyweight champion, headlined UFC 285 […]

Jon Jones UFC 290 Stipe Miocic

Off the back of his spectacular vacant heavyweight championship victory at UFC 285 last weekend, former light heavyweight kingpin, Jon Jones has opened as quite the massive betting favorite to defeat former two-time heavyweight best, Stipe Miocic, ahead of a targeted UFC 290 clash in July.

Jones, the newly-minted undisputed heavyweight champion, headlined UFC 285 last Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada against former interim division champion, Ciryl Gane – clinching the crown in a stunning opening round guillotine choke victory.

Rallying after suffering an inadvertent groin strike in the opening exchanges against the Frenchman, Jones would then take Gane to the Octagon canvas successfully, before working his way to the fence.

Hand-fighting briefly, Jones then locked up a taut guillotine choke on the MMA Factory Paris staple – forcing a rather timely submission from the former interim gold holder.

And in the immediate aftermath of the triumph, Jones, now a two-time undisputed champion during his tenure with the UFC, was floated for an International Fight Week with the above-mentioned, Miocic in July atop a UFC 290 pay-per-view card by organization leader, Dana White. 

Whilst predicting a victory of his own over Jones, opening markets have placed the new champion as quite the sizeable betting favorite over Miocic, with the Endicott native placed as high as a -355 favorite. As for the former titleholder, he has opened as a notable betting underdog at +290. Picking Jones – even as part of a 1xBet, could likely see you land some notable returns on the consensus greatest fighter of all time. 

Sidelined since UFC 260 back in 2021, Miocic headlined a UFC Apex facility card against Cameroonian knockout artist and former division kingpin, Francis Ngannou in the pair’s title rematch – dropping his place atop the division in a spectacular one-punch second round KO loss.

First striking gold back in 2016 in Brazil, Miocic stopped Fabricio Werdum on enemy territory, before defeating Alistair Overeem, Junior dos Santos, and the aforenoted, Ngannou during his first reign as champion. Despite his knockout loss to Ngannou, Miocic has since retained his rank as the #1 division challenger – now seated below just Jones. 

A former two-time light heavyweight gold holder to boot, Jones, a former Jackson-Wink MMA staple, clinched the title for a second time with a rematch win over Alexander Gustafsson.

And in three successful title defenses before his heavyweight division leap, Jones would defeat the trio of Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos, and Dominick Reyes in decision wins. Following his February 2020 debated judging win over Reyes, Jones vacated his light heavyweight crown in August of that year. 

Once more opening as a betting favorite in a potential fight with Miocic, Jones, in fact, opened as quite the significant betting underdog ahead of his fight with Gane last weekend – before comfortably closing as a betting favorite en route to his submission win to land undisputed heavyweight spoils. Jones had not opened as a betting underdog since his sophomore Octagon appearance against the late, Stephan Bonner back in 2009. 

Stipe Miocic Weighs In On The Possibility Of Training With Daniel Cormier For Jon Jones Showdown

Stipe Micoc hasn’t dismissed the idea of training with Daniel Cormier to prepare for a fight with Jon Jones, but it doesn’t sound like it’s something that’s a part of his current plans. The 40-year-old was in attendance for last weekend’s UFC 285…

Stipe Micoc hasn’t dismissed the idea of training with Daniel Cormier to prepare for a fight with Jon Jones, but it doesn’t sound like it’s something that’s a part of his current plans. The 40-year-old was in attendance for last weekend’s UFC 285 card in Las Vegas, which saw a pair of new champions crowned…

Continue Reading Stipe Miocic Weighs In On The Possibility Of Training With Daniel Cormier For Jon Jones Showdown at MMA News.

Stipe Miocic Cites UFC Master Plan As Reason Why He Wasn’t Jon Jones’ Opponent At UFC 285

Stipe Miocic thinks the UFC’s choice not book him against Jon Jones at UFC 285 was due to the promotion having some more significant plans for a later date. Jones returned to the cage after more than three years away when met Ciryl Gane in the ma…

Stipe Miocic thinks the UFC’s choice not book him against Jon Jones at UFC 285 was due to the promotion having some more significant plans for a later date. Jones returned to the cage after more than three years away when met Ciryl Gane in the main event of UFC 285 last weekend. The 35-year-old…

Continue Reading Stipe Miocic Cites UFC Master Plan As Reason Why He Wasn’t Jon Jones’ Opponent At UFC 285 at MMA News.

Jon Jones lands as pound for pound number one following UFC 285 title victory

jon jonesUFC heavyweight champion, Jon Jones returns to the No.1 on the UFC’s official pound-for-pound rankings. Jones made a successful return to the Octagon last Saturday night after a three-year layoff, running through former interim champion, Ciryl Gane, in just two minutes.  ‘Bones’ quickly implemented his sensational grappling, taking the Frenchman down against the fence before […]

jon jones

UFC heavyweight champion, Jon Jones returns to the No.1 on the UFC’s official pound-for-pound rankings.

Jones made a successful return to the Octagon last Saturday night after a three-year layoff, running through former interim champion, Ciryl Gane, in just two minutes.  ‘Bones’ quickly implemented his sensational grappling, taking the Frenchman down against the fence before locking up a guillotine to capture the UFC heavyweight title.

For his efforts, Jones rocketed up the promotions P4P rankings, jumping nine spaces to the No.1 spot, bumping featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski to second place. Jones is no stranger to this position, holding this No.1 spot up until 2020 during his multiple title reigns down at light-heavyweight.

The rankings update also saw formerly unranked Alexa Grasso jump up to No.2 in the female P4P. This came after the Mexican would cause the upset over Valentina Shevchenko, leaving with her belt and spot on the rankings, pushing the long time champion down to No.3.

As for divisional rankings, South African middleweight, Dricus Du Plessis would jump four spots to No.7 after stopping Derek Brunson, while surging welterweight Shavkat Rakhmonov would go up three places, also to No.7

What’s next for Jon Jones?

Immediately following his historical win, Jones would call out former champion Stipe Miocic, who many regard as the greatest heavyweight ever. The pair are set to clash July as part of international fight week, headlining the UFC 290 card, meaning that there will be it least two heavyweight title fights in one year, something that has not happened for some time.

Does Jon Jones deserve the No.1 pound-for-pound spot?