With UFC 309 looming on the horizon, Stipe Miocic faces arguably his biggest test to date in Jon Jones. Going into the fight, the former heavyweight champion has three things working against him – him being the older fighter by five years, him coming off a brutal knockout loss in his last fight, and possible ring rust. On the other hand, Jon Jones is riding an 18-fight win streak and seems to be doing all the right things going into his alleged retirement fight. Fighters like Tom Aspinall have completely written off the two-time heavyweight champion in this fight suggesting he’s too old and comparing him to Joe Biden. Echoing Aspinall’s sentiment, another UFC champion chimed in, counting Miocic out in the UFC 309 main event.

In a video uploaded by MMA Crazy on YouTube, welterweight champion Belal Muhammad picked ‘Bones’ as his winner – “I think Jon Jones is going to finish him. I don’t think there’s a better heavyweight in the world right now than Jon Jones. Everything he does is just so athletic, and he’s so gifted. He’s just ruthless; whenever he steps into that cage, he’s a different person.”

Muhammad also commented on Stipe Miocic’s age, who is 42 years old – a significant milestone in the fight world – “I think Stipe is a little bit older now; he hasn’t fought in a couple of years, and I think Jon Jones is just going to be too fast, too strong, and too quick for him.” Muhammad’s assessment appears to be accurate, as the Ohio native last fought over three years ago against Francis Ngannou, who sent Stipe Miocic into the shadow realm in just two rounds.

Meanwhile, Jon Jones has never lost a straight fight, despite some irregularities in his Octagon appearances, with his only loss coming against Matt Hamill by disqualification over a decade ago. Although the Rochester, New York native is the clear favorite, some fighters like Anthony Smith provided an alternate opinion to the popular notion of Jones beating Miocic easily.

Is Stipe Miocic going to be a cakewalk for Jon Jones?

If you consider the oddsmakers’s predictions, Jon Jones will successfully defend his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic. However, the #12-ranked UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith does not think fighting Miocic will be a breeze for Jones at UFC 309. But why should we listen to Smith? The answer is quite simple – he went toe-to-toe with Jones for five rounds at UFC 235.

Recently, Anthony Smith raised doubts about whether the two-weight champion could easily dominate Stipe Miocic. Smith believes this will be a significant challenge for Jon Jones, which he expressed while speaking to The Schmo. ‘Lionheart’ stated, “Typically with guys like Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, GSP, Demetrious Johnson— you know, the greats, right? Those guys are fighting people that are climbing and clawing their way through the rankings to try to take what the king has. This is probably the first time in a long time Jon is facing another king.”

The bout with Stipe Miocic marks Jon Jones’ second fight since transitioning to heavyweight from 205 pounds. In his heavyweight debut at UFC 285, he won the vacant title after submitting Ciryl Gane via guillotine choke. Now, at the cusp of his first title defense at heavyweight, ‘Bones’ is set to face lifelong heavyweight Stipe Miocic.

What are your thoughts on Belal Muhammad‘s claims? Do you think Jon Jones will “finish” Stipe Miocic at UFC 309, or will Miocic show ‘Bones’ who the real king is? Drop your opinion below.