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Jon Jones could be in for a rough outing against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 according to a fellow combatant within the promotion. Jones will finally defend his heavyweight title against the most accomplished titleholder in the weight category that the UFC has ever seen.
It all goes down on November 16, and it seems like many have been leaning towards a Jones victory in his first attempt at a title defense in the division. He returns after last winning the lineal belt in March 2023 while Miocic returns after last entering the octagon in March 2021.
Nathaniel Wood is a bit of an outlier in terms of who he sees getting their hand raised in this contest. He took to his personal X page @TheProspectMMA to offer his thoughts on the Madison Square Garden pay-per-view headliner:
"Plot twist, Stipe ends up getting the KO against Jon Jones"
Check out Wood's assessment of the looming Jones versus Miocic title bout below:
Jon Jones and the road to UFC 309
Jon Jones had already been ubiquitously regarded as the greatest light heavyweight in the history of the sport before he began eyeing gold at heavyweight. The 37-year-old entered the rarefied air of two-division UFC glory when he garnered a first-round submission victory against Ciryl Gane to claim heavyweight gold at UFC 285.
These two hulking martial artists were supposed to initially clash in November of last year. A pec injury sustained by the reigning heavyweight champion caused Miocic to be without an opponent. The record holder for UFC heavyweight title defenses would also not compete at that Madison Square Garden event with an interim title fight being set up in the wake of all of this.
Tom Aspinall captured the interim belt against Sergei Pavlovich on that night at UFC 295 and has even defended the strap since with a first-round finish vs. Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304.
Miocic dropped his heavyweight crown in that aforementioned last outing over three and a half years ago when Francis Ngannou halted him with strikes in the second stanza of their UFC 260 clash.
'Bones' is in a unique spot where many see Aspinall as the true titleholder considering the British bruiser has defended his belt and the lengthy hiatus of Jones. The heavyweight division will be an interesting one to follow as 2024 closes out.
