The long-rumored heavyweight bout for UFC 282 between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic seems to be useless within the water.
It’s been almost three years since we final noticed Jon Jones contained in the Octagon. The previous mild heavyweight champion vacated his title following one other profitable protection in opposition to Dominick Reyes at UFC 247. Since then, Jon Jones has been centered on constructing muscle for a transfer to the heavyweight division. His long-awaited heavyweight debut gave the impression to be nearer than ever as rumors swirled a few potential late-2022 return in opposition to former heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic. It now seems that battle is off the docket.
Famend MMA journalist Ariel Helwani spoke in regards to the breakdown in negotiations for the heavyweight matchup on a latest episode of ‘The MMA Hour‘ on YouTube. Helwani believes it got here right down to the UFC refusing to “come right” with their supply to Miocic.
“I believe as soon as they didn’t actually come right with a suggestion – and that’s actually what occurred right here,” Helwani stated. “It was like a ‘Hey, you wanna battle him, right here’s the quantity, take it or depart it.’ And [Stipe Miocic] was like ‘Uuuuh,’ after which they simply moved on.
“So now I believe they’re gonna attempt to make the battle in opposition to Ngannou in March, and in the event that they try this, who’s Stipe going to battle? Is he going to be motivated to battle for approach much less cash to battle a Ciryl Gane or Curtis Blaydes? I can’t see it taking place. So wouldn’t shock me if we by no means see him once more. Might he come again? Positive. Subsequent week, nice! However wouldn’t shock me if we by no means see him once more.”
Because the UFC Pivots to Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou, Ariel Helwani Believes Stipe Miocic Might Name It a Profession
With the promotion now eyeing a heavyweight title battle between Jon Jones and UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in early 2023, Helwani believes we could by no means see Stipe Miocic step inside the Octagon once more.
“I actually wouldn’t be stunned if this marks the tip of Stipe’s profession,” Helwani said. “Stipe goes to go off into the evening very quietly. Stipe was by no means going to make an enormous hullabaloo. Perhaps it’s a [social media] submit or one thing like that. He’s a reasonably quiet man, personal man, likes his life as a firefighter. He was not going to make an enormous deal of the tip of his combating profession.”
Ought to this be the tip of Stipe Miocic’s profession, the Cleveland native will undoubtedly go down as the best UFC heavyweight of all time.
As a two-time heavyweight titleholder, Miocic defended the crown a record-setting 4 occasions and is presently tied with legend Randy Couture for essentially the most wins in heavyweight title fights. He additionally holds the excellence of incomes essentially the most post-fight bonus awards in heavyweight historical past with 9.
