In the UFC 309 in November last year, defeating Stipe Miocic, Jon Jones not only defended his heavyweight belt but also cemented himself as arguably the greatest fighter in the sport’s history. Is that so? At least UFC president Dana White thinks so. White went all out to rally for Jones after his dominating win over Miocic, who retired after the loss. “This guy’s fight IQ is off the charts. Everybody going to admit now he’s the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world?” White told reporters at the UFC 309 post-fight press conference. Both fighters had come to the octagon after a long absence. But to tell the truth fight was a display of how good Jones looked rather than how rusty Miocic was.

Jones brought out all his weapons in his first knockout win since December 2018. He took Miocic down in the opening round and tormented him with nasty elbows from the top position. He hurt him with front kicks to the body in the second and third rounds and nearly dropped him with a jab. The final shot was a vicious spinning back-kick to Miocic’s midsection that brought him down to his knees. It was one-sided, to say the least. According to UFC Stats, Miocic landed 42 strikes, none of which was particularly memorable, to 104 by Jones. White could not stop marveling at Jones’ performance.

“And let me tell you, this thing had upset written all over it, too. All the talk about Jon Jones, Stipe seemed pissed, focused, and he came here to win. He looked good, he was physically in great shape, and the list goes on. Jon picked him apart. … He looked incredible. I just don’t know how any of you guys don’t see how he’s the greatest fighter in the history of f*cking people fighting,” White went on a rant. Meanwhile, interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall started repeatedly calling out Jones for a title unification bout and Jones shut him down every time. Rather, he picked Alex Pereira to be someone of equal rank.

“If there were to be a fight with a guy that’s still on our UFC roster that would be not only financially worth it but legacy worth it, it would be Alex Pereira,” Jones said, referring to the UFC light heavyweight champion. “Alex Pereira and I, we’re both 37 years old. Right now I weigh about 235 [pounds]. I’m an incredibly light heavyweight. I think Pereira walks around at 240. I think that fight would go much farther on my legacy than a young man who’s cool today and maybe gone tomorrow.” So if that fight ever happens, what will it look like? We don’t know if Stipe has any hard feelings for Jones after the loss, but his reply to it might not sit well with the heavyweight champ.

Miocic spoke to Helen Yee at Treasure Chest Casino in New Orleans during the Super Bowl week, when he gave his answer. Yee asked, “Alex Pereira.. he’s about to fight next month but he’s someone that’s been talking about wanting to fight in the heavyweight division in the future. How do you think he would do?” ‘Without much thought, the former champ replied, “ Oh, I think he [Alex Pereira] does well you know. He’s a big strong guy, you know, he hits, kicks hard. I think he’ll do well.” For context, Pereira reignited the goal of moving to heavyweight in January, but only on the condition to fight Jones. “I’m the champ. I want to fight the champ,” Pereira conveyed on The Ariel Helwani Show. This is not the first time he has teased it.

Last year, when Jones went up to the extent of claiming that he would vacate the heavyweight title to fight Pereira next for a newly integrated heavyweight BMF title, Pereira came with an interesting reply. “Chama my brother. Let’s make them wait…” Pereira responded to Jones in a post on Instagram, tagging both Jones and Dana White. So where does White stand in the matter?

To put it straight, White has no interest in granting Jon Jones’ wish for a fight with Alex Pereira. Speaking to reporters following the UFC 309, White said there’s “no f–king way I make” Jones vs. Pereira now in part because the champ is physically “too big” at this point in his career.” In fact, in December last year, White categorically promised to stage the fight this year. “100 percent,” White said when asked if the heavyweight unification bout is the biggest he can make in 2025. “I think it’s probably the biggest fight in heavyweight history and it’s a massive fight in the history of the company, too. It’s a big fight.” 

As for Miocic, this was not the first time the former two-time champ chose to bypass Jones in the question of greatness. He gave an unexpected answer when he was asked about who the best heavyweight in the world is. It was not Jonny ‘Bones’ Jones.

Stipe Miocic aggravated Jon Jones with his best heavyweight answer

Jon Jones is considered to be the GOAT by UFC CEO Dana White, there’s no doubt about it. But the heavyweight is no stranger to the debate regarding his GOAT status and former rival Stipe Miocic might have added gasoline to the flames by disregarding him as the heavyweight GOAT. How did he snub ‘Bones’? Well, he spoke to The Schmo in a recent interview and picked Francis Ngannou over Jones as the best HW in the world. “I mean, I would go with Francis [Ngannou],” he said. “Just because he’s doing great and with his boxing. I would go with Francis.”

And true to form, Miocic’s verdict did not sit well with Jones. Taking to his Instagram stories, Jones reacted to the same, “Of course,” Jones said, sharing a graphic that displayed Miocic’s pick as the “worst man’ on the planet.”

Stipe Miocic has been inside the cage with both Jones and Ngannou. He faced Ngannou twice beating him once by unanimous at UFC 220, and losing via KO to ‘The Predator’ at UFC 260. When it comes to the 28-1-0 undisputed heavyweight champion, Miocic was outclassed by the former before being stopped with a spinning back-kick and punches at UFC 309.

UFC fans had once dreamed about a champ vs champ showdown between Ngannou and Jones. But the supposed contract dispute between UFC and ‘The Predator’ never let this duo meet in the Octagon. In an interview with Seconds Out, Ngannou conveyed, “It’s been four years. That’s not my problem, I don’t care about it anymore. If it happens, yes, if it doesn’t, f— it.”

But now Ngannou is a PFL champ after hanging up his UFC gloves. He’s even gone toe-to-toe with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, in the boxing ring. So was Miocic’s choice of Ngannou a personal attack on Jones or a show of respect for the PFL heavyweight star’s raw power? Share your thoughts in the comments below.