In an interview with Clocked N' Loaded, UFC Heavyweight champion Jon Jones indicated that his title defense against former champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 on November 16th at Madison Square Garden may be the final time that he steps into the Octagon.
Jones last fought in March 2023 when he won the title via first round KO over former interim champion Cyril Gane. The fight with Miocic was originally scheduled for last year's MSG show but was rescheduled due to a training injury. In the meantime, Tom Aspinal has won and defended the interim title and looked impressive in doing so. He is currently listed as a -150 favorite for a potential fight with the heavyweight champion that now looks like it might not happen.
With the tremendous financial success of UFC 304 in Manchester, England, which saw Aspinal defend his title against Curtis Blaydes in the co-main event, talk of a potential stadium show headlined by Jones and Aspinal heated up. That would likely be a fight that could break the records set this past weekend by UFC 306 at Sphere in Las Vegas and also give UFC the attempt to crown a new face of the sport by having Aspinal defeat Jones for the heavyweight belt.
Jones was the long-time light heavyweight champion who was basically undefeated with his only loss coming early in his career to Matt Hamill via DQ due to a rule that would not have had the same result under 2024 rules. He won the title from Shogun Rua in March 2011 and had nine successful title defenses before being stripped of the title following a fight with Daniel Cormier in 2017 that was ruled a no-contest due to a failed drug test. He came back to win the vacant title the following year against Alexander Gustafsson and made 3 more defenses before moving up to heavyweight.
In addition to a potential fight with Aspinal, there is also a matchup with PFL's Francis N'Gannou that looms on the horizon. Rumors of that fight existed for years while N'Gannou was UFC champion but Dana White has gone on record as saying that he does not want him back in UFC. Money talks, however, and you can't completely shut the door on that fight as long as Jones is active.
If all this looks like people are looking past Jones' defense on November 16th against Miocic, it's probably because they are. Miocic is now 42 and has not fought since being knocked out by N'Gannou in March 2021. His last win came in 2020 against Daniel Cormier, the third fight in their trilogy. The last person he fought outside of N'Gannou and Cormier was Junior Dos Santos way back in 2017.
If Jones does indeed retire following the Miocic fight, he will leave the sport as the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the history of MMA despite his long history of troubles with drug testing and legal authorities.
