Twelve months ago, Jon Jones missed out on a chance to compete in the World’s Most Famous Arena when a devastating injury forced him out of his first UFC heavyweight championship defense.
On Saturday (10 p.m. ET), arguably the most successful fighter in UFC history gets a mulligan when he faces off in the same arena — Madison Square Garden — against originally scheduled opponent Stipe Miocic as the UFC’s marquee, pay-per-view attraction. 309.
“I didn’t expect the sport to wait for me,” Jones, who was forced out of the UFC 295 headliner last year due to a torn pectoral muscle less than two weeks from fight night, recently told The Post via Zoom, “but Dana (White, UFC CEO ,) showed me something that I feel I deserve – both Stipe and I. He knew how badly we both wanted to fight against each other, and gave us the opportunity to do it years later, and I’m just very grateful. I didn’t take it opportunity to be given. I take recovery quite seriously. Now, I feel like it’s my life, and I’m happy to give fans, patient fans, what they’ve been waiting for.
As usual, the UFC finally fell into the bag of ingredients and made a delicious meal from what could have felt like leftovers with the loss of its title action.
The light heavyweight fight for the vacant championship between former champion Jiri Prochazka and former middleweight king Alex Pereira moved to top billing, and the interim title was made for the big boys with Jones on the shelf between hulking finishers Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich.
Pereira was crowned two-weight champion that night – the fastest in UFC history – and Aspinall emerged with a placeholder strap that usually leads to a major title match.
But if the last revolution around the sun has illuminated anything about the heavyweight division of the UFC, it is this: A fight with Aspinall of little interest to Jones.
“He really didn’t have anything to persuade me; nothing,” Jones said. “He reminds me of a lot of up and comers that I’ve fought … nothing for my legacy; like, nothing really.”
However, Jones (27-1, 17 finishes) another big championship tab from the Park in 2023 as a more attractive foil.
“Pereira, though, that’s someone who interests me,” Jones said of the man who now holds the heavy light title Jones has held throughout much of the 2010s – when not separated from the champion amid legal problems or suspensions. “… This man is a champion killer, just like me. That kind of entices me. We’re both 37; our weight is almost the same now.”
Some in the MMA media and social media space are intrigued by Pereira’s idea, but a vocal contingent is pushing the idea of ​​”sneaking” a unification fight with Aspinall.
Jones is adamant that Pereira is the only person on the UFC roster who is happy with him – if he can get past Miocic, a two-time champion who has won six title fights in the promotion – and continues to fight all the “quacks” and ducks. emojis are thrown online.
Can anything get Jones interested in Aspinall? “Really, nothing,” Jones said.
“I find him annoying,” he said of the 31-year-old from England, who has repeatedly tried to get the legend’s attention and secure a logical title unification fight. “I’ve been here a long time, and he only came to the UFC not too long ago. If he wants to fight me, he could be here. I’m like, ‘Where have you been?’ “
Full disclosure: Aspinall had been a prospect who didn’t make his UFC debut until five months after Jones’ last fight at light heavyweight — a highly competitive decision victory over Dominick Reyes in February 2020 — and was recovering from a knee sprain when Jones submitted Gane.
And Jones was told by Sportsnet’s Aaron Bronsteter that he would be willing to leave the title if it meant greasing the wheels to fight Pereira – although it was suggested that the BMF belt went up to hold between the two dual champions of intrigue.
It doesn’t matter if Jones doesn’t successfully defend his heavyweight crown for the first time against Miocic (20-4, 15 finishes), who despite being 42 offers one of the best skill sets in the division.
“At the end of the day, no matter how much competition there is in the world, they can only fight me one by one,” Jones said. “So I’m just fighting one thing at a time, focusing on beating Stipe first, then whoever comes next, and I’ll give that my undivided attention.”
