The long-anticipated fight between Jon Jones and former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, still the promotion’s heavyweight record holder for most title defenses in the weight class, is booked.
On Friday, UFC President Dana White confirmed that Jones (27-1, 1NC) and Miocic (20-4) will face off on November 11, 2023 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. The event, numerically, is expected to be UFC 295.
The news broke as part of a video announcement ahead of the UFC 290 ceremonial weigh-ins in Las Vegas.
After years out of action, Jones, the promotion’s former multi-time light heavyweight champion, finally made the move to heavyweight earlier this year. At UFC 285 in March, Jones returned to face Ciryl Gane for the vacant UFC heavyweight championship, in the wake of Francis Ngannou exiting the company.
Jones made short work of France’s Gane, submitting the former interim champ in less than a round.
As light heavyweight champ, “Bones” sports an unparalleled record. But his drug testing scandals are equally unparalleled in UFC history; Jones was stripped of titles a full three times during his light heavyweight run — twice due to drug test failures, and once due to a violation of the UFC Athlete Code of Conduct, after fleeing the scene of a car crash in which his car plowed into the vehicle of a pregnant woman.
Other scandals, including domestic violence allegations and an accusation of sexual assault, continued to dog Jones even when he stepped away from the spotlight in 2021, when he vacated his 205 pound title.
In contract, Miocic brings with him a hard-nosed, squeaky-clean image, having continued to work as a fire fighter throughout his mixed martial arts career. His three title defenses from 2016 to 2018 remain a record with the company; after losing his belt to Daniel Cormier in July of 2018, he would win two more fights against “DC” before losing the belt again, this time to Francis Ngannou in the pair’s second meeting.
No other fights are currently announced for the November card.
