Should things go according to Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White’s plans, fans are about to be treated to a dream heavyweight matchup.
In a recent interview with TMZ, White expressed his hopes about enrolling former 205-pound kingpin Jon Jones for an upcoming UFC event. While White didn’t expressly indicate the name of the card, it is safe to assume that he was hinting at International Fight Week, which is headlined by UFC 276.
“Listen, people have been talking about how awesome this card is, and I was just telling somebody the other day our lineup for this summer is incredible,” White said. “I’m hoping that Jon Jones is gonna be a part of that lineup this summer.”
When asked about a potential opponent for “Bones,” the first name that came to White’s mind was the one of former heavyweight titleholder Stipe Miocic.
“Yeah, Stipe makes sense.”
The last time he stepped into the Octagon, Jones (26-1, 1 NC; 20-1, 1 NC UFC) took a unanimous decision over Dominick Reyes in the UFC 247 headliner. After the February 2020 victory, Jones had some issues outside the cage, including a contract dispute with the UFC that led him to relinquish the championship and plan his transition to the heavyweight division. Moreover, he was arrested for battery domestic violence in September 2021 while he was in Las Vegas for his induction to the UFC Hall of Fame. Jones was also banned from his team, Jackson-Wink MMA, because of his reiterated legal issues.
Miocic (20-4, 14-4 UFC) has been away from competition since he lost his championship to Francis Ngannou in a highly anticipated rematch that went down at UFC 260. The 39-year-old Ohio-based fighter is the record holder for most consecutive title defenses at heavyweight after scoring back-to-back victories against the likes of Alistair Overeem, Junior dos Santos and Ngannou.
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