The closer we get to Saturday’s UFC 309 pay-per-view card inside New York’s Madison Square Garden, the less we seem to be talking about the full-time firefighter and UFC legend who makes up one half of the main event.
As Jon Jones sets out to make the first title defense of his heavyweight crown in his return to the Octagon after 20 months due to a torn pectoral tendon, the fight week narratives have, instead, largely surrounded what Jones will do next if he wins and whether he will retire before giving interim titleholder Tom Aspinall a chance to unify against him.
Luckily for Stipe Miocic (20-4), the most accomplished heavyweight champion in UFC history with four title defenses over two reigns, riding below the radar is exactly where he wants to be.
“I’m too busy for that,” Miocic told CBS Sports last week. “I work fulltime and have two kids and a wife who are crazy and awesome. There is always something going on. It’s never ending and I love every second of it so I have no time to sit there and hurt someone’s feelings on social media.”
The soft-spoken and blue-collar Miocic will square off against Jones (27-1, 1 NC) in the native of Ohio’s first appearance since losing his title to Francis Ngannou via brutal second-round knockout in their 2021 rematch. Miocic was originally scheduled to fight Jones last November in the same building at UFC 295 before the injury sidelined Jones and forced CEO Dana White to delay the star-studded fight by one year.
The delay angered many fans who would’ve preferred Jones return against Tom Aspinall (15-3), the UFC’s interim heavyweight titleholder, who has laid waste to one top contender after another in Jones’ absence.
While Miocic has heard some of the rhetoric being shared by critics, including those who bring up the fact that he hasn’t won a fight since 2020, true to form he couldn’t care less. Even when reminded of how many fans brought up Miocic’s age after watching him enter a UFC arena earlier this year as a fan — with many pointing out that it appeared as if Miocic was limping — all he could do was chuckle.
“I like shutting people up,” Miocic said. “I’m walking fine. I’m good. I feel great.”
Chris Weidman, a former UFC middleweight champion who will compete on Saturday’s undercard in a 185-pound bout against Eryk Anders, told CBS Sports on Thursday that he believes his close friend Miocic has been dealt a raw deal by the media this week.
“Honestly, I feel you guys should be talking about Stipe Miocic more than you are talking about Tom Aspinall,” Weidman said. “I feel like everyone is overlooking Stipe in this fight. If Stipe gets a win on Saturday night, that’s not even a talking point anymore and I feel like Stipe is being disrespected a lot.
“Jones is going to do what he wants to do, at this point. I feel bad for Aspinall, it’s just a weird time to be champion with Jon Jones coming up and beating Cyril Gane like that. Tom Aspinall has been looking great, finishing all of these tough dudes. He has this interim belt but what does an interim belt mean he can’t even fight for the real belt? It’s a tough thing for him but it’s just kind of how the UFC works and it’s just weird timing for him.”
After recently partnering with OnlyFans, Miocic gave his fans an inside look at his training camp for this historic matchup on an episode of OFTV’s “Rise and Grind,” which premiered on Tuesday.
Miocic went on to explain that he was never offered an interim title shot against Aspinall during Jones’ injury recovery and never asked for one. To him, an inevitable return to the Octagon was always about fighting Jones and no one else.
“Patience is a virtue. It’s what I wanted and I’m happy I got it,” Miocic said. “I’m always the underdog, which is fine with me. I’m a very competitive person and I love what I do. It’s nothing new [being overlooked], I’m used to it at this point. I really don’t care, I really don’t care what other people think and it’s how I was raised. Nothing is ever given, it’s earned. My mother and father always instilled in me to go out and get what’s yours and never sit back expecting things to be given to you. I always figured that if you don’t have a way, you have to make your way.
“They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks but I’m definitely not that old and I definitely learned some new tricks. And I’ll be leaving that Octagon with the belt.”
