Stipe Miocic has waited effectively over three years to return to the Octagon, however the former UFC heavyweight king is as assured as ever getting into his title battle with Jon Jones at UFC 309 later this month from inside Madison Sq. Backyard in New York Metropolis.
There’s been a number of battle followers and MMA fanatics who’ve trashed the legacy battle between Miocic and Jones, however it’s nonetheless one hell of a matchup. Regardless of his prolonged layoff from combating, Miocic is broadly thought to be among the finest heavyweight fighters of all time and at all times appears to be coaching to remain in form. The 42-year-old is actually on the tail finish of his profession (if not the ultimate straw), however battle followers ought to nonetheless count on a well-prepared and highly-motivated Stipe Miocic when the cage door shuts in two weeks.
“I’m excited, actually,” Miocic stated on “BS w/ Jake Paul.” “It’s lastly right here. It was presupposed to occur final 12 months, sadly an damage took it away, however right here we’re. We’re three weeks away. I’m prepared, man. I’ve been pumped. I hold quiet. I deal with activity at hand, simply fear about my battle. That’s all I fear about.”
Whereas Miocic could also be dialed in and able to make his return to motion he’ll be doing so in opposition to the consensus best fighter of all time. Fortunately for Miocic, Jones hasn’t logged a lot cage time both over the previous few years. In actual fact, “Bones” has fought simply as soon as at heavyweight and solely has two minutes of Octagon time since Feb. 2020. So regardless that Jones has the entire weapons to make it a straightforward night time at UFC 309 it looks like Miocic believes he’ll have the ability to implement his personal recreation plan from the opening bell.
“Jon Jones does a number of issues good, however I’ve nice coaches, nice teammates, they usually make me ready for no matter occurs,” Miocic stated. “I’m not going to attend for what he’s going to do, I’m going to do what I need to do.”
Miocic, who’s coming off a crushing knockout loss to Francis Ngannou all the way in which again at UFC 260, has solely misplaced twice over the past decade. They had been each knockout defeats, however Miocic hasn’t proven a lot of a decline within the cage. So whereas most are calling for his retirement after his assembly with Jones later this month the previous UFC champion continues to be on the fence.
“I don’t know,” stated Miocic about his potential retirement. “I say it after each battle, I take into consideration retiring. So, we’ll see. Proper now, I’m simply fearful in regards to the battle, and I can fear about that after it till it occurs.”
