There’s a lot riding on the heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic when they finally meet in November.
While an official announcement about the matchup hasn’t been made, Jones and Miocic are expected to headline UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. For Jones, the fight serves as a bout he’s chased since dispatching Ciryl Gane in rapid-fire fashion back in March 2023 to capture the vacant UFC heavyweight title.
Meanwhile, Miocic wants to cement his legacy as the best heavyweight in history by taking out arguably the greatest fighter of all-time in Jones.
The stakes get even higher with the expectations that one — or both — fighters could potentially retire afterward, although UFC CEO Dana White believes that’s only a certainty as far as one heavyweight is concerned.
“Stipe 100 percent is going to retire after this fight,” White told Kevin Iole. “Listen, Jon Jones, you know how I talk about Jon Jones and what I think of Jon Jones as a fighter — Jon Jones always loves to challenge himself, moved up to heavyweight.
“I don’t know what Jon Jones will do after this fight, but I would be shocked if he didn’t want to test himself against [Tom] Aspinall.”
Tom Aspinall currently reigns as UFC’s interim heavyweight champion. The English powerhouse owns an almost spotless record in the promotion aside from a freak injury that prematurely halted his fight against Curtis Blaydes in 2022. Aspinall recently avenged that setback with a one-minute knockout of Blaydes to defend his interim title at UFC 304.
Overall, Aspinall boasts an 8-1 UFC record with eight finishes. No opponent has even made it past the second round against him. Many within the MMA community believe he’s already established himself as the best heavyweight in UFC no matter what title Jones currently holds, but that makes a potential fight between them that much more intriguing.
White believes Aspinall having so much hype around him now may actually serve as the perfect bait to get Jones interested in the fight, assuming he gets through Miocic.
“Everything I’m saying, these are f*cking facts,” White said. “It’s not like me and Jon Jones have this unbelievable relationship like I have with Ronda [Rousey] and Chuck Liddell and Conor [McGregor] and some of these guys that have fought in the past. You know this is not the case. What I am saying about Jon Jones is undebatable.
“[It’s] undebatable what this guy has accomplished in his career, and if he beats Stipe and he comes out and fights Tom Aspinall and beats him, it’s already undeniable — nobody, I don’t care how much you dislike Jon Jones for what he’s done, this isn’t about personally who Jon Jones is and do you like him, we’re talking about the baddest dude to ever walk the face of the Earth in combat sports already — if he goes out and beats Tom Aspinall, he cements his legacy as the greatest fighter of all-time.”
While Aspinall may have momentum right now, White still wants to let Jones and Miocic settle their business in November after promising both of them he would make that fight.
Despite Miocic sitting out for the past three years and his most recent outing ending in a brutal knockout loss to Francis Ngannou, White believes Miocic has earned the opportunity to come back and face Jones for his likely last chance at reclaiming the UFC title.
“This title fight was supposed to happen a long time ago,” White said. “All the things that happened from injuries, whatever that got in the way — you’ve got two sides of the coin. You’ve got everybody talking about, ‘Dana doesn’t respect this guy and he doesn’t do this and he doesn’t do that.’ I’m showing both of these guys the respect. They want to fight each other. It’s a fight that they both want to happen. Total respect fight. I think they both deserve it.
“At the end of the day, I get it. Everybody wants to see Tom Aspinall, but let me tell you what, after Stipe and Jon fight, whoever wins, the Aspinall fight is even bigger.”
