Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic faced off against each other in UFC 309 press conference. Jon Jones decided to stop giving any respect to Stipe Miocic as he did before the press conference. Before the press conference and during the press conference, when they were on the stage with Dana White, Miocic offered to shake hands, but Jones just moved forward and refused. Dana White was standing between the two men to control the situation and Jones was staring directly in the eyes of Miocic. Jon Jones said this to Miocic while staring into his eyes, “Don’t mention my kids again.”
This confused Miocic but he wasn’t angered by the reaction. They stood there for a few seconds, at last, they had to break apart and exit the stage. The situation between the heavyweight fighters got serious quickly as we were just a few days away from the event.
Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic Get Personal
Miocic was respectful just before when Jones felt offended by some statements that Miocic made about him. Jones already had a grudge against Miocic as he labeled him a “b—h some time ago. But the thing that angered Jones was when Miocic said a few things about his kids.
After the face off Jones was asked about his reaction toward Miocic and Jones responded that Miocic “It is very personal to me yes.” Meanwhile, Jones’ reaction didn’t anger Miocic, but he was upset that Jones had grudges from long ago and he doesn’t remember saying it. Stipe Miocic said this in reaction. “I don’t even remember saying that, my kids will never look at me like I’m an assh*le. That was no direct thing to him. When I said bring it on, bi*ch, he was pretty much calling me out, telling me he was going to beat my ass in front of a whole arena of people. Sorry for defending myself, I apologize.”
Alex Pereira and Tom Aspinall As Contenders
Jon Jones has been focusing on fighting Alex Pereira after this fight so that he can continue his legacy and end with a legendary bout. But now, if he plans to fight after UFC 309, he will fight Tom Aspinall and has no more options.
This was made mandatory by UFC CEO, Dana White who has reacted to Jones’ recent speech whereby the latter gave priority to the Aspinall fight and expressed more interest in fighting the UFC light heavyweight champion. White said this to clear things up. “He’s not fighting Pereira. Pereira was a middleweight that moved up to light heavyweight. He’s also a kickboxer who has done very, very well in MMA. His wrestling isn’t even near the level of Jon Jones and Jon Jones is way bigger than him.”
The Heavyweight Champion justified his decision by saying this about Aspinall, “He is such an assh*le that I don’t want to do business with him.” On the other side, the Canadian fighter is now in New York, training for the backup fighter.
Final Thoughts
Jon Jones was out because of a leg injury. It resulted in his withdrawal from the match against Stipe Miocic and now the title belongs to Tom Aspinall. Since then, Aspinall successfully defended his title with a first-round knockout of Curtis Blaydes in July, which is one of the biggest reasons that Aspinall is the best contender for Jones to fight after UFC 309.
After that fight, Aspinall trash-talked Jones countless times. Aspinall even said that Stipe Miocic is not worthy of fighting Jones because he does not hold a title and his age factor is also something to be considered. But one thing is for sure. Jon Jones would be putting his legacy in danger, if he agreed to fight Aspinall, so the most obvious outcome is that Jones should retire.
