Stipe Miocic responds to criticism over Jon Jones’ fight booking and rumors of his retirement after UFC 309

Don’t expect Stipe Miocic to lose any sleep over criticism of him getting a fight against Jon Jones at UFC 309 after a more than three-year absence, with interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall in the starting blocks.

Despite the fact that Miocic was booked for the exact same fight almost exactly a year ago until a torn pectoral muscle knocked Jones off the card, the former heavyweight champion reminds anyone who complains that he is not the matchmaker. As much as Miocic has always wanted to fight Jones, it’s still up to the UFC to book those fights and that’s completely out of his control.

“It wasn’t my decision,” Miocic told MMA Fighting. “It’s a fight I wanted and the UFC gave it to me. They didn’t have to. They gave it to me.”

Of course, Aspinall would certainly disagree, having boasted an impressive 8-1 record in the UFC, with all of his wins coming by knockout or submission within two rounds.

Perhaps the biggest difference with Miocic is the legacy he has built as arguably the greatest heavyweight in UFC history, having broken the record for most title defenses in the division (three total). Miocic takes nothing away from Aspinall, but he ultimately believes his fight against Jones simply means more for the sport.

“I believe that [there’s a reason why it’s happening]“said Miocic. “I think people want to see that. I think a lot more people want to see the fight than him against Aspinall.

“[Tom Aspinall is] hard. He hits hard. Big boy. It’s what people want, he blows people away.”

Aside from Aspinall lurking around the corner, Miocic also faces the growing narrative that he is destined to lose, as his last fight came back in 2021 when he suffered a loss to Francis Ngannou.

While Miocic immediately pushed for a trilogy against Ngannou and the heavyweights were tied with one win each, the UFC never managed to book the fight. Ngannou fought only one more time for the UFC before suffering a torn ACL in his knee and then leaving the promotion in free agency.

At this point, attention turned to Jones after he repeatedly called for the chance to face Miocic in hopes of cementing his status as the greatest fighter in the history of the sport.

Miocic understands the task he is taking on in fighting Jones after such a long layoff, but don’t expect him to lie down and play dead just because some loud voices in the sport say he can’t win. The 42-year-old Cleveland native admits there was a time when listening might have bothered him, but these days he just doesn’t pay attention to what others say, let alone let it get to him.

“I don’t listen to anything from the outside,” Miocic said. “When I was younger, when I first started out, I always thought, why would you say that? How dare you? I was really sensitive. I literally stopped caring anymore. I don’t care what anyone says. I really don’t care.”

Perhaps the other biggest storyline surrounding UFC 309’s main event is the persistent rumors of a win, loss or draw. There is a word that both Miocic and Jones call it a career after that.

Jones hasn’t entirely hidden the fact that he has nothing left to prove, and he hinted at retirement multiple times when discussing his future after facing Miocic on November 16th.

Meanwhile, Miocic hasn’t said nearly as much because he just doesn’t really engage on social media and rarely gives interviews leading up to his fights.

So where exactly does he stand on this whole retirement talk after facing Jones?

“I think with every fight I prepare for my last one,” Miocic said. “After my first UFC fight, I always thought about retiring. I say that all the time. Who wants to get beaten up for 10 weeks, 12 weeks, come back and do it again?

“I love what I do and it’s fun. We’ll see, but for now Jon is my job. That’s all I care about. That’s what I’m thinking about.”

However, Miocic clearly intends to win, and he couldn’t think of a better way to end his career than by becoming the first person to legitimately defeat Jon Jones.

“If I beat him, it will be great,” Miocic said. “100 percent [that would be a great exclamation point on the career].”