LAS VEGAS – When UFC president Dana White thinks about a fight between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic, the word “legacy” immediately comes to mind. And for that reason, it’s a matchup that couldn’t get away.
“This is a fight that had to be done,” White told MMA Junkie and other reporters Friday night.
Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) and Miocic (20- 4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) are set to headline UFC 295 on Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden. Jones, a two-time light heavyweight champion with a record 11 title defenses, will attempt to make his first heavyweight title defense against Miocic, a two-time heavyweight champ with the most title-fight victories (6) in UFC heavyweight history, which includes a record three consecutive defenses during his first reign.
A fight between Jones, who turns 36 later this month, and Miocic, 40, has been talked about ever since Jones announced his intention to move up to heavyweight in 2020. An interim title fight was rumored to be in the works late last year while then-champ Francis Ngannou was in contract negotiations with the UFC, but when Ngannou couldn’t reach a deal and left the promotion, talks of a Jones vs. Miocic vacant title fight ramped up.
Ultimately it didn’t come to fruition as Jones ended his three-year layoff by meeting Ciryl Gane in his heavyweight debut this past March and claimed the vacant belt with a first-round submission win at UFC 285. Afterward, Jones wasted no time declaring himself the greatest of all time and called out Miocic, who was cageside at T-Mobile Arena.
Eight months later, they’ll finally throw down in a sort of dream matchup for fight fans that White is happy to have made.
“When you think about the legacy of Jones, the legacy of Stipe: the greatest mixed martial artist of all time vs. the greatest heavyweight of all time after (Jones) moves up to heavyweight,” White said. “It’s a fight that had to happen, and no better place for it to happen than Madison Square Garden.”
For Miocic, it’ll be his first fight since March 27, 2021, when he was knocked out by Ngannou in the second round of their rematch to lose the heavyweight title. Prior to that, Miocic went 2-1 in a trilogy with eventual UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier.
Miocic won his first UFC heavyweight belt with a first-round knockout of Fabricio Werdum in 2016. He then defended the title against Alistair Overeem, Junior Dos Santos and Ngannou before losing to Cormier in the first fight of their trilogy.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
