Getty Jon Jones.
UFC superstar Jon Jones has been itching to fight again and dared Stipe Miocic to sign the contract for a bout in December.
Jones is widely regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. The former light heavyweight champion has kept to the sidelines since his last outing against Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in Feb. 2020. Following a razor-thin win over Reyes by unanimous decision, Jones relinquished his title and announced a move up to heavyweight.
Initially, he got linked to a potential outing with the reigning heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, who is in recovery from knee surgery, but nothing concrete developed in over two and a half years since. There were talks of former heavyweight champion Miocic being the frontrunner to welcome ‘Bones’ in his divisional debut for an interim title.
Although he got rumored to headline UFC 282, a recent press release from the promotion confirmed that was not the case.
On Oct. 27, Jones took to his Twitter account to call out Miocic, insisting he accepts his challenge.
“I’m bringing all the heat @Stipemiocic, I got that fire you could never put out. Sign the contract #Ufc282.”
I’m bringing all the heat @Stipemiocic, I got that fire you could never put out. Sign the contract #Ufc282
Jones vs. Miocic Was Rumored for UFC 282
On Oct. 14, renowned MMA journalist Ariel Helwani reported Jones might be back in action for UFC 282, scheduled for Dec. 10 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“UFC has been in dialogue with Jon Jones’ team about fighting in the main event on Dec. 10, sources say,” Helwani tweeted. “I’m told Jones wants in. Initial hope was Ngannou x Jones but given Ngannou’s knee recovery + contract status = a long shot. Option 2 is Miocic. But that’s not close to done.”
He added, “If they can get Jones x Miocic done, that’ll be the UFC 282 main. If not, the main will be Prochazka x Teixeira 2. And if they can’t get Jones x Miocic done for 12/10, they’ll set their sights on doing Ngannou x Jones in March, if Ngannou re-signs. Developing.”
Current 205-pound king Jiri Prochazka will defend his title against former champion Glover Teixeira in an immediate rematch to serve as the main event for UFC 282.
Ngannou’s Coach Wants Jones To Wait for the Champion
Ngannou’s coach Eric Nicksick of Xtreme Couture MMA, talked about a conversation he shared with a UFC executive, who inquired about the preferred timeline and opponent for the return of ‘The Predator.’
“A UFC exec called and basically said, ‘Hey, what is your ideal timeline, and what is your ideal match up?’” Nicksick told MMA Junkie Radio (transcribed by MMA Mania). “Does it matter what my opinion is? No, but it is nice that they called and asked. I said ideally I would want March, and ideally, I would want Jon Jones.”
Nicksick claimed the executive was fully on board with the idea of Jones challenging Ngannou for the heavyweight title.
“The person that called agreed 1 million percent that this is what [UFC] would like, as well,” he continued. “That is what Francis would like. They’re calling to figure out a timeline on injury and how long I would need to get him ready.”