While Jon Jones only just made his triumphant return to the Octagon at UFC 285, there’s plenty of mystery surrounding how long the newly-crowned heavyweight king will stick around the sport.
So far, “Bones” has said he wants to face former heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic in a legacy-defining bout, but he hasn’t made his plans known beyond that. Jones vs. Miocic is rumored for UFC 290 on July 8, but the fight has not been made official at this point in time. Still, it seems all but guaranteed the matchup will happen — it’s just a matter of settling on a date and venue.
“Here’s the thing that makes this so awesome, you have the greatest mixed martial artist of all-time facing the greatest heavyweight of all-time,” UFC president Dana White recently told TMZ Sports. “It literally doesn’t get any better than that. These are the kinds of fights you dream about making.”
While it was recently revealed that Jones signed a new eight-fight deal with the UFC, count White among those who wouldn’t be surprised if “Bones” isn’t around for the duration of that contract.
“I wouldn’t be shocked if he fights Stipe and then retires, and doesn’t fight again,” White said.”
Meanwhile, White remains adamant that any hopes of a potential fight between Jones and Francis Ngannou are dead. The UFC president also doesn’t think Ngannou would fare any better against Jones than Ciryl Gane did. Jones defeated Gane via first-round submission in the UFC 285 headliner.
“I’m not interested, I tried to make that fight for two years,” White said. “He didn’t want the fight, and he left here without having another deal in place. I know how the boxing world is, but Francis didn’t want to do it. I tried to make that fight for two years.
“And let me tell you what, and a lot of other people feel this way, I think that’s exactly how the fight would’ve gone if [Ngannou] was in there [instead of Gane]. Him and Ciryl had a five-round war, and if Ciryl doesn’t go for that submission, Ciryl probably wins that fight — at the end of the fifth round.”
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