Miocic gives his side of the story, says he ‘was ready to go’ vs Jones
Former UFC champion Stipe Miocic gives his side of the story of the supposed Jon Jones fight.
In 2022, there were ongoing talks about a fight between former UFC champions Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones.
Jones contradicted Dana White’s previous statement, stating that offers were supposedly made, but nothing ever materialized. Miocic was a guest on a recent episode of The MMA Hour, where he shared his side of the story.
“I had a lot going on, man,” he said. “Just spending time with my family and had personal things going on that I needed to take care of, but overall I’ve just been busy, and the way things shook out with these fights, it just didn’t happen the way it was supposed to. I was ready to go but just never got the call.
“There’s times when they needed me and I said yes, and then it was just kind of, ‘We went in a different direction.’ What are you going to do? Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t.”
Miocic is now putting it all behind him and chooses to move forward. He’s now offering to challenge the winner between Jones and Ciryl Gane, who will fight for the now-vacant UFC heavyweight title at UFC 285 in March.
“I definitely was [disappointed],” said Miocic, who expects to return to action in July. “[Jones] is great fight, it’s a great matchup for me, but at the end of the day, it’s not my decision unfortunately.
“But we’ll see what happens. I think those two guys are going to go out and have a fight, they’re both gamers, and I’d love to get a crack at one of those guys, whoever wins it.”
The 40-year-old Miocic last saw action at UFC 260 in 2021 against Francis Ngannou. He lost via second-round KO, along with the undisputed heavyweight title.
About the author: Milan Ordoñez has been covering combat sports since 2012 and has been part of the Bloody Elbow staff since 2016. He’s also competed in amateur mixed martial arts and submission grappling tournaments. (full bio)