Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic—two greats of the game, but who gets the better of the other on November 16? Well, looking at their track records, most would back the undisputed heavyweight champion to cross the finish line. And understandably so. After all, Jones has managed to rack up a stellar 27-1-0 record, marred by only by a single disqualification loss owing to use of the then illegal 12-6 elbows against Matt Hamill in 2009.

Miocic, on the other hand, comes off a humanly possible 20-4-0 record, already giving an idea to many about the outcome of the upcoming clash. However, UFC legend Chael Sonnen seems reluctant to write Miocic off so easily. In fact, in a conversation with Daniel Cormier, ‘The American Gangster’ analyzed what fans can expect on November 16, and mentioned how he believes that Miocic might have an advantage, heading into the legacy bout in Madison Square Garden.

Sonnen said on ESPN MMA’s ‘Good Guy/Bad Guy’ show on November 7, “You ask me who I think’s going to win. If I had to tell you right now, I say Jon Jones. But if you were to further that question and say, ‘Oh really, Chael? How?’ That’s where I do run into a problem. We have only seen people that can beat Stipe by turning his lights out…you got to take that switch and turn him off. Because if he’s alive, he’s coming at you. And if you ask me, ‘Chael, do you think that Jon Jones can outbox, outstrike? Do you think he has the power to knock out Stipe? I would tell you, ‘No’.”  

The veteran further detailed his take by bringing in Francis Ngannou, who had beaten Miocic in their second clash in 2021 (UFC 260), after the US fighter had won their first clash by unanimous decision in 2018 (UFC 226). But even then, there’s a catch…

“A lot of people would disagree with that. Because they’ve seen Stipe fall down, but I got to remind you, he fell down against a guy that put Tyson Fury down. I mean not for nothing. Stipe is finally the bigger man. I don’t think he’s going to get out-powered. I think this extra weight that Stipe has added because he thought he was going into a trilogy against Francis, I think it’s one of the most telling parts of this whole story. And I feel like it’s left out. Nobody is talking about when you see Stipe on the scale in a week and a day from right now. He’s going to be 17 pounds bigger than the last time you saw him on a scale. I think that matters and I think it matters in a positive way for team Stipe,” he further added.

When ‘Bones’ made his heavyweight debut in 2023, he weighed 248 pounds, and that was enough for him to get the better of his opponent, Ciryl Gane (who clocked 247.5 pounds) in the first round. That’s a tidbit more than what Stipe Miocic used to weigh, as he normally weighed around 230 to 240 pounds for his UFC fights. But apparently things are a lot different going into UFC 309.

There may be some truth to what Chael Sonnen has claimed about Stipe Miocic having an edge over Jon Jones because the former 2-time champion seems pretty confident about his chances of turning ‘Bones’ lights out.

Miocic wants to knock out the undisputed champion

Maybe he hasn’t won the BMF title, but Stipe Miocic has done possibly everything that a UFC fighter can, or even better. He captured divisional gold twice, and that is more than what 90 percent of all fighters can say. But grabbing a win over Jon Jones and handing him his first clean loss would be no small feat. Just like people who talk about Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali getting beaten during their professional careers, they might also talk about the day Jones met his match and lost. With that in mind, Miocic plans to show Jones his power and possibly make him eat the canvas.

“I believe I’m the toughest matchup for Jones, and I know this fight will end in a KO,” Stipe Miocic told ‘MMA Fighting’. Similarly, Hall of Famer and UFC commentator Michael Bisping also backed Miocic to win by knockout if he gets riled up inside the Octagon because most people are counting him out. ” I think that is going to be his mindset, that he’s been overlooked and he’s been forgotten… he’s going to come in angry and very motivated… I think he’s going to walk Jon Jones down,” Bisping told ‘SunSport.’

Jon Jones, on the other hand, couldn’t be more confident as he talked about the lethal move which upended his unbeaten record 15 years ago. I’ve been training extensively on different 12-6 elbow attacks. It’s funny because it’s been such a no-no move, so you train yourself not to go there. Now that I’m able to use that strike – it’s a very devastating strike because it opens up so many more options, both on the feet and on top. I’m excited to be one of the first UFC athletes to legally display it at Madison Square Garden,” Jones said in a conversation, accoring to MMA Mania.

Looking at all those views, analyses, and predictions, do you think Stipe Miocic will beat Jon Jones? Drop your comments below.