Former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic has called out the winner of the upcoming title fight between Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane.
Jones, 35, has been preparing for a move to heavyweight for almost three years and finally has a fight booked as he meets Gane for the vacant title at UFC 285 on March 4. The news comes after Francis Ngannou opted to vacate his title and leave the promotion after failing to agree a new deal after nearly two years of negotiations.
Miocic, who was in talks to fight Jones last month, has been absent from the UFC since his knockout loss to Ngannou in March 2021. The former champion is seemingly keen to make his return in the summer, despite turning 41 later this year, as he tweeted: "March 4th - I like it. I got winner in July."
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Whilst announcing the fight between Jones and Gane this past weekend, UFC president Dana White confirmed that Miocic is still in the heavyweight title picture. "Stipe is still obviously very much in the mix but he's going through some stuff, the timing just didn't work out," White said of his return.
Miocic first held the heavyweight title for two and a half years but lost the belt to Daniel Cormier, before later winning it back against his rival and defending it in their trilogy fight. Assuming that Miocic does fight the winner of Jones vs Gane, it will give him the chance to start his third reign as heavyweight champion, a feat that has only been achieved by UFC legend Randy Couture.
Jones has opened as an underdog against Gane despite him being considered undefeated, with his only defeat coming by disqualification for illegal elbows in 2009. Gane is relishing the chance to hand Jones his first proper defeat and thinks he is well-rounded enough to deal with his rival's wrestling abilities.
“I’m really happy to be the first guy in this division fighting with Jon Jones, he’s a great athlete. He’s going to stay well-rounded. I don’t think he’s going to prove something. I think he just wants to win his fight against me, and I don’t know what is a good way to win against me," Gane said.
"Of course, some people like to say my wrestling game is not good because of the fight with Francis, but this is not the case. I was not focused on just that. I’m well-rounded, too. I can imagine a fight where we’re going to stay on the feet and maybe we’re going to try some time to go down.”
