Jon Jones could have been the perennial champion, with no doubts about his status as the MMA GOAT, if not for the various scandals he found himself in. That, and his refusal to fight Tom Aspinall, keeps casting doubts about his claim to the title. While ‘Bones’ manages to shut his critics up every time he fights, constant doubts keep piling his way, especially when talking about the relatively new contenders that find themselves in his crosshairs. In that light, not everyone agrees with the opinion that he is indeed the sport’s GOAT.
The former 2-time heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic is one of them. Recently, he gave his verdict on who was better—Alex Pereira or Jon Jones? This debate has been running in the fight world for quite some time now. Moreover, Pereira reignited the goal of moving to heavyweight recently in January. “I’m the champ. I want to fight the champ,” Pereira conveyed on The Ariel Helwani Show. And given the recent matchup that Miocic and Jones had, the former’s answer might not sit well with the heavyweight champ.
Miocic spoke to Helen Yee at Treasure Chest Casino in New Orleans during the Super Bowl week, when he gave his answer. Yee asked, “Alex Pereira.. he’s about to fight next month but he’s someone that’s been talking about wanting to fight in the heavyweight division in the future. How do you think he would do?” ‘Without much thought, the former champ replied, “ Oh, I think he [Alex Pereira] does well you know. He’s a big strong guy, you know, he hits, kicks hard. I think he’ll do well.”
Now this answer came after Miocic stirred the pot against Jones despite suffering a third-round TKO loss to Jones at UFC 309. The former two-time champ gave an unexpected answer when he was asked about who the best heavyweight in the world is. Guess what? It was not Jonny ‘Bones’ Jones.
Stipe Miocic aggravated Jon Jones with his best heavyweight answer
Jon Jones is considered to be the GOAT by UFC CEO Dana White, there’s no doubt about it. But the heavyweight is no stranger to the debate regarding his GOAT status and former rival Stipe Miocic might have added gasoline to the flames by disregarding him as the heavyweight GOAT. How did he snub ‘Bones’? Well, he spoke to The Schmo in a recent interview and picked Francis Ngannou over Jones as the best HW in the world. “I mean, I would go with Francis [Ngannou],” he said. “Just because he’s doing great and with his boxing. I would go with Francis.”
And true to form, Miocic’s verdict did not sit well with Jones. Taking to his Instagram stories, Jones reacted to the same, “Of course,” Jones said, sharing a graphic that displayed Miocic’s pick as the “worst man’ on the planet.”
Stipe Miocic has been inside the cage with both Jones and Ngannou. He faced Ngannou twice beating him once by unanimous at UFC 220, and losing via KO to ‘The Predator’ at UFC 260. When it comes to the 28-1-0 undisputed heavyweight champion, Miocic was outclassed by the former before being stopped with a spinning back-kick and punches at UFC 309.
UFC fans had once dreamed about a champ vs champ showdown between Ngannou and Jones. But the supposed contract dispute between UFC and ‘The Predator’ never let this duo meet in the Octagon. In an interview with Seconds Out, Ngannou conveyed, “It’s been four years. That’s not my problem, I don’t care about it anymore. If it happens, yes, if it doesn’t, f— it.”
But now Ngannou is a PFL champ after hanging up his UFC gloves. He’s even gone toe-to-toe with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, in the boxing ring. So was Miocic choice of Ngannou a personal attack on Jones or a show of respect for the PFL heavyweight star’s raw power? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
