UFC heavyweight champ Jon Jones makes his highly hyped return at the UFC 309 pay-per-view (PPV) top bill this Saturday. He meets former divisional titleholder and the near-best to do it, Stipe Miocic. “Bones” was to fight him a year back, but a pectoral injury pushed the affair. The lead-up to his pay-per-view maiden defense has been peaceful. But now, the floodgates are opening up.
UFC 309 takes shape this weekend at Madison Square Garden in the Big Apple. The ceremonial “Countdown” segment (watch it here) takes a look at the journey so far for all the top bill fighters. Until this past weekend, the build-up to this heavyweight championship fight between the two headliners was quiet. Jones caught wind of Stipe Miocic calling him a bit*h on the “Countdown” and randomly went off on social media on Sunday.
Hiring black fighters to mimic me will not help you Stipe. And you shouldn’t have called me a bit*h, the disrespect wasn’t necessary. Let’s play. #UFCcountdown
Jon Jones via X (@JonnyBones)
The moniker of respect between G.O.A.Ts has been so good so far that it’s a few spaces short of blank-space flirtatious. Add to that the woes of interim heavyweight Tom Aspinall, who neither wants to fight for unification. Jones has been eagle-eyed for a legacy billing and possible swan song against the best to do it. For him, Miocic has always been seen as the next big step.
Hiring black fighters to mimic me will not help you Stipe. And you shouldn’t have called me a bitch, the disrespect wasn’t necessary. Let’s play. #UFCcountdown
— BONY (@JonnyBones) November 11, 2024
Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) won the vacant strap by a first-frame submission of the calm Ciryl Gane before this. But now, things turn a little bit more sour as both fighters realize the spot they are in. A firefighter by trade before this, the now infamous Strong Style Fight Team MMA heavyweight now brings on the heat. During a recent media availability round, though, Miocic weighed in on what he said.
A ‘Bones’ to pick: Stipe Miocic apologizes for calling Jon Jones a bit*h before title clash
If he beats Miocic, Jon Jones made it clear that he’s not interested in a title unification bout. He might even make it to the MMA retirement tracker having done it all. Jones returns for a maiden defense of the heavyweight gold at the UFC 309 main card this weekend.
Barring a few matchups, every scrap needs a build-up after all; while very significant, it can’t strictly be about two heavy names testing it out and riding off into the sunset! But perhaps it went off too strong. On Monday, during an interview with Ariel Helwani, SMiocic backed away from calling Jones a name and apologized.
He was talking to me; I was talking to him. Bring it on…Sorry if I hurt his feelings — I’m sorry; I wasn’t trying to disrespect him. It was just the heat of the moment.
Stipe Miocic on ‘The Ariel Helwani Show’ (@ArielHelwani) live to Uncrowned and YouTube
Jones has yet to respond to Miocic’s apology at the time. Still, the fight week has just begun, and there will be plenty of opportunities. Whether it be at media day or the pre-fight press conference. If the main event of UFC 309 was in need of a boost, perhaps this random bit of bad blood was it.
