UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic believes Jon Jones has the tools to have a successful run at heavyweight.
Last week, Jon “Bones” Jones vacated his light heavyweight championship to cross over into the heavyweight division. For years, fans have been curious how Jones would fare at heavyweight. Not many people are more qualified to give an assessment of Jones’s potential in the division than the man who is the consensus greatest UFC heavyweight of all time, reigning champion Stipe Miocic. In a recent interview with ESPN, Miocic did just that.
“He’s got great technique,” Miocic said. “That’s definitely gonna help him. He’s very fluid in what he does. He’s got a great, strategic plan to how he fights. Half the game is having a good plan every time you go in and fight.”
Despite the praise for Jones’s technique and fight IQ, Miocic is well aware that these traits could all be nullified with one properly landed strike. This, of course, is true in all weight classes, but its truth carries a different gravity at heavyweight.
“Listen, it’s big boys and they’ve got small gloves on,” Miocic said. “It just takes one. I don’t care if you hit hard or not, you can still get caught. I don’t care who you are.”
The question about Jones’s future at heavyweight that is most urgent for many, though, is whether or not the former light heavyweight king will be challenging Miocic next. Miocic has no answer as to whether this is what is next for Jones, but he does know what his answer would be if presented with that fight offer.
“I’ll fight anyone,” Miocic said. “I don’t really call people out. Whoever they put me in front of, I’m gonna fight. That’s what I do. That’s what I signed up for. If it’s him or it’s Ngannou or whoever, I’m ready to go.”
Do you think Jon Jones is a future UFC heavyweight champion as long as Stipe Miocic is active?
