Morning Report: Dana White explains why Stipe Miocic interim title offer would be ‘complete disrespect’
Stipe Miocic is the odd man out after the shakeup to UFC 295.
If UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi wasn’t enough with its big late changes, the promotion’s return to New York City on November 11 now gets a facelift. UFC CEO Dana White announced early Wednesday morning that heavyweight champion Jon Jones had suffered a torn pectoral tendon tear, requiring surgery that will shelve him for eight months. As a result, his original opponent Miocic is off the card and top contenders Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall will duke it out for the interim strap in the co-main event.
Reports surfaced shortly after the news that the plan from the UFC was to hold Miocic until Jones was healthy to remake the fight despite an interim champion coming into the fold. For White, the thought of having the former two-time champion stay on the card or fight in the meantime never crossed his mind.
“Stipe’s not fighting for an interim title,” White said at the Power Slap 5 post-fight press conference. “Jones said, ‘I want to fight Stipe.’ I said, ‘You’re fighting Stipe.’ This is — you have the greatest heavyweight of all time vs. the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. This is a legacy fight for both of those guys.
“To even call Stipe and ask Stipe to fight for an interim title is complete disrespect. This is a fight for two legends, legacy, two of the greatest to ever do it, fans want to see it, I want to see it, and they both want to do it.”
The Jones bout was going to act as Miocic’s return to action as he’s been away from the octagon since March 2021 when he lost his title to Francis Ngannou. Jones, 36, had also returned from a hiatus earlier this year when he won the title, defeating Ciryl Gane via first-round guillotine choke at UFC 285 in March.
UFC 295 could have been a historic moment with the Jones vs. Miocic fight as speculation has run rampant regarding each’s fighting future. Jones noted before his initial return against Gane that Gane and Miocic were two of the last names that interested him, hinting at retirement possibly looming. With Miocic, 41, the same has been speculated simply due to his selectiveness with what fights he’ll take these days.
Either way, Jones will need to heal up before making any final decision about his future.
“Jon called, had said that he hurt his shoulder training and wrestling,” White said. “His team thought that you just need a few days off and you’ll be fine and whatever. He felt like something was really wrong, flew out here, did the MRI, and found out what was wrong and he was super emotional about it. Really upset and you know, we did what we do and flipped it and made another fight.”
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VIDEO STEW
The MMA Hour.
Full fight.
Vintage Zombie.
Deep 116 Impact trailer.
Doctor explains Jones’ injury.
Makhachev’s brilliant striking.
Life of Bo.
MORNING MUSIC
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
Boxing time.
For those of you wondering. She has the same number of fights as me, all in striking. Majority of my experience is in MMA. She’s a multiple time world champ. Don’t disrespect the work she’s put in or the work I’m putting in. pic.twitter.com/zS3gEOWuB8
— Jessy Jess (@missjessyjess) October 25, 2023
Bad blood.
Definitely the only bad blood I ever had in a fight. #UFC @ufc @joerogan pic.twitter.com/sQ3zGBxCRa
— Dan Henderson (@danhendo) October 25, 2023
Investment.
Emotionally invested. Nothing but care & respect. My admiration for fighters is limitless & sincere. They quite literally put it all out there in the name of entertainment & sport to make a living. Fortunate beyond belief, grateful beyond measure. #mma pic.twitter.com/W8mxbaOoWo
— Marc Goddard (@marcgoddard_uk) October 25, 2023
Flex on ‘em.
Flexibility: If you don’t work on it, you’ll lose it. pic.twitter.com/oUrAhrMhB1
— Georges St-Pierre (@GeorgesStPierre) October 25, 2023
Progression.
Getting stronger and faster every day. And of course energized by @CelsiusOfficial #CELSIUSBrandPartner #CELSIUSLiveFit pic.twitter.com/LCQaTBfsIv
— Tatiana Suarez (@tatianaufc) October 25, 2023
Shameful.
All 60 of the currently ranked UFC fighters that are not included in the new #UFC5 roster: @UFCInteI @BigMarcel24 @AnikFlorianPod pic.twitter.com/LF9N11J7El
— Brian (@QPCrisp) October 25, 2023
Support.
Headed to Saudi to Support Francis in his quest against Tyson Fury ! Going to be epic.
— Randy Couture (@Randy_Couture) October 25, 2023
◦@turkialalshik
◦@riyadhseason
◦#furyngannu
◦#riyadhseason pic.twitter.com/DD4d5SNJNK
Hilarious.
We are live and you will not believe who @dc_mma said should fight @MAKHACHEVMMA. This dude done lost his darn mind. We talk @ufc 294, and more today on #DCandRC. https://t.co/WFgaScPeZD pic.twitter.com/HxE4v0ITjm
— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) October 24, 2023
Sponsored.
Stoked to be joining @Stake!
— Alexandre Pantoja (@Pantojamma) October 25, 2023
Let's go! pic.twitter.com/wpU1pgzSeM
Oh boy.
Tito deserved an Oscar for this pic.twitter.com/fGnr1Lg1lN
— Borrachinha Depot (@FullContactMTWF) October 25, 2023
Hype.
11/4 (Sat) : ET #RIZIN_LANDMARK7
— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) October 26, 2023
Azerbaijan
@FiteTV !
https://t.co/eEpfmslPEXhttps://t.co/LCKulwOiaM
Main and Co-Main:
Karamov Suzuki
Musayev Takeda pic.twitter.com/LxLn7ZZyOw
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Kyoji Horiguchi (31-5, 1 NC) vs. Makoto “Shinryu” Takahashi (16-1-1, 1 NC); RIZIN 45, Dec. 31
Juan Archuleta (29-4) vs. Kai Asakura (20-4); RIZIN 45, Dec. 31
Hiromasa Ougikubo (25-8-2) vs. John Dodson (24-13); RIZIN 45, Dec. 31
Kleber Koike (31-7-1) vs. Yutaka Saito (21-7-2); RIZIN 45, Dec. 31
FINAL THOUGHTS
The MMA gods have spoken up mightily these past so many weeks. The winner of this next heavyweight title fight is the champion no matter as far as I’m concerned. I won’t even doubt that we get the winner defending the belt before Jones vs. Miocic is rebooked.
Thanks for reading!
EXIT POLL
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