Heavyweight champion and MMA GOAT Jon Jones will make his return to defend his belt on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York when he faces former champion Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden.
Jones made big news, though, when he said it's unlikely that he'll face interim champion Tom Aspinall next, should he defeat Miocic. He did, however, drop a surprising name whom he may face.
"More than likely not," Jones said when I asked if he'd defend against Aspinall. "More than likely not. I feel like Tom Aspinall is, I don't want to say nobody, but he just hasn't proven anything. He hasn't done anything, and I understand that. I mean, he won his belt against Sergei [Pavlovich] and Sergei just got slaughtered by someone else [Alexander Volkov]. I'm not here to gamble someone else making a name off of me.
"I'm here to compete against the guys where, when we look back like 10 years from now, we'll go, 'Jon Jones fought this guy and that guy and this legend and that champion and this champion. If there were to be a fight against somebody still on the UFC roster that would not only be financially worth it but legacy worth it, it would be [light heavyweight champion] Alex Pereira."
Jones also hit on a number of other topics during the interview.
There has been criticism of Miocic getting the shot at UFC 309 since he lost his last fight and hasn't won a bout since defeating Daniel Cormier at UFC 252 on Aug. 15, 2020.
Jones, though, said he doesn't believe it's fair to judge Miocic off of one fight and pointed out all of the elite wins Miocic has. Miocic has two wins in three fights against Cormier, a former UFC heavyweight champion. He's also got wins over former champions Francis Ngannou, Junior dos Santos, Fabricio Werdum and Andrei Arlovski. Miocic is 6-3 against men who held the UFC heavyweight crown at some point in their careers.
"I feel it's unfortunate that we live in a world where one bad performance discredits a person so much," Jones said. "Stipe has beaten everyone: Junior dos Santos, Francis Ngannou, Daniel Cormier. They're some of the biggest names. Many champions he has defeated. I feel like I'm wise enough to know that one bad night doesn't make a man or break a man.
"Stipe is every bit as worthy of being my opponent. It's not easy winning championships back-to-back, especially in the heavyweight division. What he's done is truly special and I just want to give the man his opportunity. I know fighting me, for a lot of athletes, is a really big deal. If anyone deserves to be in there with me, it's Stipe Miocic."
I also asked Jones why it means so much to him to be considered pound-for-pound No. 1. He's had a rocky relationship through the years with UFC CEO/President Dana White. White once suggested Jones, then the UFC's light heavyweight champion, consider a move to middleweight when Ngannou won the UFC heavyweight title.
White also said following UFC 247 on Feb. 8, 2020, that he felt Dominick Reyes had defeated Jones in their light heavyweight title bout.
In 2024, though, White has been going hard on Jones as the P4P No. 1. KevinIole.com doesn't rank Jones pound-for-pound because he hasn't fought in more than 12 months, and I have a 12-month rule for inactivity. UFC.com ranks him third, behind lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and Pereira.
Jones said he's proud of his longevity and that White recognized it after being Octagonside for all of his bouts.
"It's just a huge honor to even be considered at 37 years old one of the most well-rounded winners in our sport, still," Jones said. "It's a huge honor and I'm just very grateful that my boss, a man whose sat front row for every fight, for all of my fights, for him to say, 'Listen guys. Trust me. I know what I'm looking at and in my opinion, if Jon was the same size as a lot of these other guys, Jon would be in the mix.' I think we have a lot of new fans, younger fans, who, our sport can be very 'What have you done for me lately?'
"And I think Dana is doing a great job of saying , 'Hey wait a minute. Let's remember what this guy has done.' And I'm grateful. I'm grateful that he's not allowing the naysayers or some of the fans to just push me to the side because I have done a tremendous amount of work for this company. I did it at a very young age. I did it at a middle age and I'm doing it at a late age now."