Jon Jones versus Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight title at Madison Square Garden – a fitting end to an era or an error in judgement?
The main event of UFC 309 on November 16 in New York seems slightly out of place in 2024, with both Jones and Stipe, at 37 and 42 respectively, hinting it will be their last trip to the octagon. While UFC president Dana White’s hyperbole over Jones has become the subject of online ridicule – “the greatest of all time and the No.1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world” seems to precede his every mention – there is little doubt ‘Bones’ is one of the best to ever pull on MMA gloves.
But while Jones has proven peerless inside the octagon, he has been a sheer mess at times outside it. In the cage, he became the youngest UFC world champion in history at 23, making a record 13 defences of the light-heavyweight title, racking up 27 wins in all, before claiming the vacant heavyweight crown in March 2023.
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In contrast, he has failed several drug tests, both performance enhancing and recreational, been involved in a number of driving offences, was charged, although later dropped, with domestic battery, among a host of other questionable decisions, leading White to say: “This guy’s got a lot of demons.”
While Jones deserves his flowers, his personal life means he won’t come out of his impending UFC send-off completely smelling of roses. However, one thing is for certain: Tom Aspinall will be the one who will miss him the most if the American hangs ‘em up.
(Image: Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Jones and Stipe was originally scheduled at MSG last November but a muscle tear suffered by ‘Bones’ forced a year-long postponement. Wigan’s Aspinall filled the heavyweight-shaped hole in the 2023 card, KOing Sergei Pavlovich inside 70 seconds to claim an interim crown that increasingly, especially after his defence in Manchester in July, makes him feel like the ‘real world champion’.
This has added weight to the claims Jones is more duck than GOAT, having strategically sidestepped Francis Ngannou, who gave up the heavyweight title he later claimed, with Aspinall’s ongoing pursuit likely to prove fruitless. But the big-hitting Brit will be in New York again as a ready-made replacement for either man.
He said on his YouTube channel: “I have told the UFC if anybody gets injured or there’s any reason why somebody can’t make it to that fight, I’m ready to go. If I need to, I will fight both of them on the same night, no problem.”
Let’s hope Aspinall gets his chance to lead this new generation of UFC stars by attempting to rip the baton from Jones’ hand.
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FINAL SAY: “Tom Aspinall is next in line for anything that happens after this fight (Jones v Stipe).” Dana White offers a glimmer of hope that a heavyweight unification fight could happen in 2025.