While everyone in the MMA space has had their say about the upcoming UFC heavyweight title fight at UFC 309, Stipe Miocic has laid low, preparing for the biggest fight of his career.
On Nov. 16, Stipe Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) will return to the octagon for the first time in 1,330 days. It’s not just any return. It’s the return. The man who many consider to be the greatest MMA fighter ever, Jon Jones, will stand across from Miocic, who is regarded as the greatest heavyweight, inside the cage at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The UFC heavyweight title will be on the line in what could be the last fight for both Miocic and Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC).
“I’m excited, honestly,” Stipe Miocic said on “BS w/ Jake Paul.” “It’s finally here. It was supposed to happen last year, unfortunately an injury took it away, but here we are. We’re three weeks away. I’m ready, man. I’ve been pumped. I keep quiet. I focus on task at hand, just worry about my fight. That’s all I worry about.”
Throughout the discourse about the heavyweight title picture, Miocic has largely kept his head down working. The fight was initially set to occur last November at UFC 295, but Jones tore his pectoral muscle, delaying the fight.
As a replacement for the lost fight, Tom Aspinall was crowned interim champion by knocking out Sergei Pavlovich. Aspinall, who has felt like the odd man out as he’s been denied an opportunity to unify the title, went on to record a rare interim title defense by stopping Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304.
Some believe Stipe Miocic, who returns from a knockout loss to Francis Ngannou, doesn’t deserve to fight for the title while Aspinall is on such a roll. The UFC decided that a “greatest vs. greatest” fight was the way to go and has stuck with it despite heavy criticism.
Meanwhile, Stipe Miocic has remained relatively quiet while preparing to defeat Jones, who became heavyweight champ by submitting Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 last March.
With the fight now just around the corner, Miocic is confident he will be able to take control of the fight, and won’t wait around to find out what type of gameplan Jones will bring.
“Jon Jones does a lot of things good, but I have great coaches, great teammates, and they make me prepared for whatever happens,” Miocic said. “I’m not going to wait for what he’s going to do, I’m going to do what I want to do.”
At 42, Miocic knows he doesn’t have many days left in the sport. However, he’s not ready to say UFC 309 will be his last walk to the octagon.
“I don’t know,” Miocic said when asked about retirement. “I say it after every fight, I think about retiring. So, we’ll see. Right now, I’m just worried about the fight, and I can worry about that after it until it happens.”