UFC targeting Jon Jones-Stipe Miocic title fight for MSG

Jon Jones. Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

UFC targeting Jon Jones-Stipe Miocic title fight for Madison Square Garden

By Michael Gallagher | Last updated 4/17/23

Jon Jones’ first defense of his UFC heavyweight championship may just come in his home state.

UFC president Dana White confirmed following UFC on ESPN 44 over the weekend that he’s targeting a title fight between Jones (27-1) and former champion Stipe Miocic (20-4) for the company’s annual November card in Madison Square Garden.

“As far as I know everything is good and hopefully we have a fight with him and Stipe very soon,” White told reporters during the post-fight news conference. “That’s where we’d like to do it.”

Jones hinted during Saturday’s card that he wants to fight Miocic in New York. The fight was initially believed to be targeted for UFC 290 in Las Vegas during International Fight Week in July.

How cool would it be to spend my retirement fight dominating the greatest heavyweight of all time, in my home state at Madison Square Garden?
— BONY (@JonnyBones) April 16, 2023

Jones and Miocic have traded shots at one another through social media with Jones champion accusing the two-time champion of dodging him while White admitted on “the Pat McAfee Show” that he hadn’t heard anything from Jones since his UFC 285 win over Ciryl Gane in March.

Weird… because last month you said I was the one running @JonnyBones pic.twitter.com/m2YgKeJ922
— Stipe Miocic (@stipemiocic) April 13, 2023

Miocic hasn’t fought since a knockout loss to Francis Ngannou in March 2021 in which he lost the heavyweight championship. Prior to that, he’d won 14 of his 17 UFC fights. The 40-year-old holds UFC records for most heavyweight title defenses (four), most wins in heavyweight title fights (six) and most post-fight bonuses in the heavyweight division (nine).

Jones’ submission win over Gane last month was his first fight at heavyweight. He spent his first 27 fights at light heavyweight, where he went 26-1 with 11 successful title defenses.

More must-reads: