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.
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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.”